A month or so ago, I saw the teaser for the Tamil film VIP 2 with Dhanush and I was super excited that he was doing a film with Kajol. This is her first return to Tamil films in 20 years, and it was great to see a woman in the kind of antagonist role that usually goes to a man in Indian cinema, like Sonu Sood et al.
Commenters on Youtube urged me to see the first film VIP before going to the sequel, and I’m so glad I did.
VIP 2, unlike many Indian sequels, does indeed carry on the story of the unemployed graduate played by Dhanush. Pretty much all the main characters and actors from the first film are back, Dhanush still living with his father and brother, and his now wife played by Amala Paul. I was a little annoyed that the film kind of made Amala’s character into a harpy, but the marital discord has real underpinnings in Dhanush’s characters drinking (an issue in the first film as well), and Amala’s unhappiness at giving up her job to tru live up to Dhanush’s sainted mother’s housekeeping. At least the film showed that she regained happiness when she goes back to work when the family is in financial crisis — the title says after all that he’s an unemployed graduate!
Something happens near the end of the film which I won’t spoil that was the perfect way to bring Dhanush and Kajol’s characters together, and to make them resolve their differences. It was very specific to the place of the film. Dhanush himself wrote the script and dialogues, and his sister-in-law Soundarya (daughter of Rajnikanth) directed the film.
There are a couple of great dance numbers in the first half of the film, one very modern, and the other a more traditional style.
You can see and enjoy this film without seeing the first, but I’m glad I had seen VIP first because there are many references to the first film.
In VIP, Dhanush plays a young man who has a civil engineering degree, and has been looking for the right job for 4 long years. His father is frustrated with him. Dhanush’s younger brother has a good job. He applies and applies and can’t catch a break. He belongs to a Facebook group of other unemployed young graduates. I had no idea this was such an issue in India.
Dharam is new to Paris, and he’s a stand up comic flown in from Dehli to headline a friend’s club. Have we ever had a stand up comic as an Indian romantic hero before? That also felt very modern to me. Shyra meets him at a bar, and their dynamic from the beginning starts with a dare. “If you do X, then I’ll go out with you.” ‘Desperate Dharam’ as Shyra calls him, is up for any dare, if it means he can spend more time with this fascinating wild creature. When he takes her dares, Shyra gets that little spark in her eye – here’s someone who gets me and will go on my kind of adventures. But she warns him from the first that she won’t be tied down and she doesn’t want him to fall in love with her. We’ve seen all that from the trailer. We’ve seen live in relationships in Hindi films, too, but this relationship definitely feels more modern, and Aditya’s gorgeous setting of Paris helps with that.
Sim
I watched Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (If you loved someone, don’t be afraid) written and directed by 
Wastrel Salman first wins over Kajol, and then has to win over her family, especially her skeptical brother Vishal. Salman is particularly ridiculous in many scenes playing his role for broad comedy, and I was wondering if he let the Vishal brother of Kajol character upstage him so much because it was his actual brother. I literally had no idea Arbaaz Khan was Salman Khan’s brother AND that he was the producer of Dabangg. He is such a looker in Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya! I think this is one of his first movies, and he did a great job.
Shahrukh Khan was my entree into Indian Cinema. And it’s all because of Netflix. Netflix streaming’s algorithm recommended Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to me because I love romantic movies. Then I watched Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and I was a goner. I think my story is similar to many other non-Desi fans of Indian Cinema — Shahrukh Khan is our gateway to this wonderful world of film. And the internet and Netflix makes it so easy now to really dive into an obsession.
Pardesi Reviews 