Bheja Fry 2 review

Cast: Vinay Pathak, Kay Kay Menon, Minisha Lamba, Suresh Menon, Amol Gupte
Directed by Sagar Ballary
Rating: *1/2
Comic actors over generations have relied on two vital skills: the ability to annoy and the art of appearing quite foolish. And some legends like Jim Carrey and Jerry Lewis have excelled in both these vocations. Buffs of the first installment of this film would be quick to point out that it is lead actor, Bharat Bhushan's (Vinay Pathak) idiosyncrasies that can fry one's 'bheja' deliciously. But in this watered-down sequel, unfortunately, he's either become tolerable or we've become immune to his nonsensical behaviour.
The basic plot of the film doesn't throw-up any surprises. But then, in a film like this, you're more concerned with the imbecilic situations that our lead zero, Bharat, lands himself into. This time around, income tax officer, Bharat wins a TV game show that gets him on a cruise liner where he bumps into visionary scammer and perverted freak, Ajit Talwar (Kay Kay Menon). Being part 2, one idiot just wasn't enough, so we also have Bharat's work colleague and close friend, M T Shekharan (Suresh Menon) who dons a dozen disguises as he's on the prowl for a tax defaulter.
Bharat's ability to speak a lot, yet say very little tests the cumulative patience of everyone onboard, particularly Talwar's. As you would imagine, the two end-up being stranded on an island, far divided from civilization. Much to Talwar's agony, Bharat continues his brainless rant and incessant singing as his level of humour is reduced to that of Supandi's (*Tinkle comics).  Luckily, the film also has a character called Raghu Burman (Amol Gupte), an eccentric Bengali with a dancing moustache, who's the sole inhabitant of the island. Raghu's interests and socially challenged nature strikes a chord with Bharat and before you know it, they're off to a duet.
How the story concludes is hardly a make-or-break factor, yet it does get disastrously Tom-and-Jerry-ish towards the end. But what actually tilts this film in favour of 'avoidable' is the fact that Bharat's stupidity seems forced and scripted. And although Kay Kay Menon puts up his magnificently mad face, his frustration and anger seem misplaced. Even Vinay Pathak delivers a mediocre performance, his timing is bang-on but it just doesn't add up to evoke more than a faint smile.
Fortunately, this film has a devoted following of fans who would happily ignore the loose ends, forgive the writer for weak gags and perhaps even throw their heads back and laugh reminiscing the first part. But an honest verdict would be: this 'bheja' is half-baked.