Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi Movie Review: Jimmy Sheirgill and Piyush Mishra are the MVPs Once Again in This Sonakshi Sinha Comedy

Is it easy to make someone laugh? It is, actually. But is it really easy to make you laugh for nearly two and a half hours non-stop? Well, not every film can be Andaz Apna Apna, but sometimes you can come close. The 2016 film Happy Bhag Jayegi came out as a pleasant surprise, as it was quite engaging and funny. Now the sequel, Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, comes two years later. While Abhay Deol sits this one out, the rest of the main cast returns, with two big additions in Sonakshi Sinha and Jassi Gill. The question here is, can Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi make us Happy Phirr Se? Sometimes, it does and sometimes, it doesn't. And in the first case, it has more to do with this talented man called Jimmy Sheirgill, who is getting better with every movie he is in.

The plot is nonsensical to say the least, and only exists to generate situations for laughs. The Happy from the first film (Diana Penty) is now happily married to her beloved, Guddu (Ali Fazal), and both are invited to China for a concert for the latter to perform. Little did they know that the concert was a ploy by a group of nefarious Chinese goons to use Happy for a devious scheme. At the same time, another Happy (Sonakshi Sinha) also arrives in China to teach horticulture in a university and she gets kidnapped instead. Not done just with her, the Chinese mob also abduct Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Sheirgill) and Usman Afridi (Piyush Mishra) from their respective hometowns in India and Pakistan. Amidst all this, Happy escapes and comes in the company of Khushi (Jassi Gill), a good-hearted embassy worker, who has to make sure that she returns India safely. Happy, however, had another reason to be in China and it is up to Khushi, Bagga and Usman to help her out, while trying to find out where the real Happy is.

One of the little niggles about the first movie was that for a movie titled after its female protagonist, Happy Bhag Jayegi puts less spotlight on her and more on the supporting characters. That's something the sequel improves upon, as Sonakshi Sinha (with her accompanying star-power) is in the forefront of the action. That, however, doesn't stop the MVP's of the first movie, Jimmy and Piyush Mishra to steal the show from everyone, every now and then.

Nearly every scene featuring these two going at each other will bring a smile to your face, if not make you go ROFLing. Jimmy and Piyush continue to capitalise on their frenemy camaraderie and it is a delight to see them work hard to make us laugh. There are some really funny gags in the film, especially in the first half. Bagga and Usman's encounter with the Chinese mob, as well as Bagga' frequent references to his ruined wedding and later competing with Khushi for Happy's affections provide many laughs. However, the best joke in the film has something to do with a Bollywood film that did huge business in China. There are also some very smart meta jokes in there too.

But is the movie as funny or as good as the first one? Unlike the 2016 film, the humour overall is very inconsistent and many gags get stretched for too long. A chase sequence near the mid-point at a adult-market involves an intoxicated Usman trying to get cosy with every sex-worker he meets, while the others run for their lives. We might guiltily laugh at the first time it happens but then it goes on and on losing the little bit of humour the idea had in the first place. And just like the first film, there is a pointless motor chase sequence here too. It didn't work the first time around, so I am not sure why the writers would want to include it here.

Even the whole India-Pakistan banter is not as funny as the first film, with the bashing going more towards the neighbouring country. Felt like director Mudassar Aziz didn't want to take any risk with this aspect in the current political climate. The number of racist jokes (you know, the one about how all East Asian people look alike) could have been brought down considerably. Considering the kind of characters we have in Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi, however, they cannot be avoided altogether.

Also for a film, supposedly set in China, many of the locations felt like it was shot near Ghaziabad with Chinese extras, what with the fake-looking sets and all. The second half feels too long, and they could have easily edited out the whole Chinese jail sequence. There are some funny lines there, but the whole scene felt very unnecessary.

But more than the patchy humour, what Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi really misses out on is the right mix of emotion and humour, that the first film had in its advantage. The subversive love quadrangle in the 2016 film was well-done. However, in the sequel, Sonakshi's Happy seeking a runaway fiance isn't that engaging enough.

The music, by Sohail Sen, is foot-tapping.

The Performances 

Like we said before, the scene-stealers of the film are Jimmy Sheirgill and Piyush Mishra. Jimmy, especially, is in rocking form this year, after giving us some class acts in Mukkabaaz and the underrated Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3. He uses his deadpan brand of humour to an impressive impact here, making even some of the blander lines sound chuckle-worthy. And of course, you can't help but applaud when he does an impromptu Sunny Deol dance step in a Superman costume!

Sonakshi Sinha is really good, though I wish, that like the first film, the makers could have put some of her comic potential to a more effective use. Jassi Gill makes a confident Bollywood debut. He is especially good in the scenes where he goes on a psychotic rant and ends up singing a popular song. Diana Penty and Ali Fazal, the leads of the first film, have a surprisingly brief screen-time, though Fazal gets to be in touch with his comic side (something he couldn't do in the first film).

Jason Tham, the former Just Dance contestant, is the surprise package here as the Chinese mobster; the youngster is excellent in both humorous and action scenes. Denzil Smith is effective.

Yay!

- Jimmy Sheirgill

- His bonding with Piyush Mishra

- Some really good jokes

- The performances

Nay!

- Needed a lot of trimming, especially in the second half

- The nonsensical plot

- The emotional subplot doesn't work

- Some gags get stretched too much

Final Thoughts

Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi loses some of the humorous charm the second time around. Still, there are some really good gags in there, mostly courtesy a terrific Jimmy Sheirgill and Piyush Mishra. I recommend this movie to be watched just for these two!

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 12:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).