Ye Re Ye Re Paisa 2 review: Poor writing turns this mindless entertainer into an unbearable watch

The Sanjay Jadhav-directed Ye Re Ye Re Paisa (2018) was a mindless entertainer that tried too hard to be an entertaining film and failed miserably.

Now the baton has been passed on to Hemant Dhome, who leaves no stone unturned to make a film that is in every sense a true successor of its predecessor. Ye Re Ye Re Paisa 2 not only emulates the mediocrity of the first film but actually outdoes it.

The film starts with bank recovery agent Anna (Sanjay Narvekar) returning home to India from South Africa. He has returned empty-handed, which infuriates his wife (Vishakha Subhedar).

Elsewhere, businessman Neeraj Shah (Pushkar Shrotri) has duped the bank of Rs10,000 crore and flown away to London. Janhavi Muzumdar (Mrinal Kulkarni) offers Anna Rs100 crore if he can successfully bring back those Rs10,000 crore.

To accomplish this impossible task Anna assembles a team of three people with particular sets of skills. Hacker Harsh Patil (Aniket Vishwasrao), polyglot Sara Desai (Mrinmayee Godbole) and informer Jangav (Priyadarshan Jadhav). The four, accompanied by Anna's brother-in-law Tenya (Anand Ingle), go to London to capture Neeraj Shah and bring him back with Rs10,000 crore. In London they get help from Kolhapuri taxi-driver Country (Prasad Oak).

The film makes it clear from the very first scene that it is an in-your-face comedy with absolutely no logic. Which would not have been a problem if the film had actually made you laugh. Sadly, that is not the case.

If we start nitpicking, we would find a mistake every 30 seconds. Even the jokes that sounded funny in the trailer leave you dry when you watch them on the big screen, thanks to the flawed writing.

While it is wrong to expect logic in such films, it is not wrong to expect that once a certain fact about a character has been established it becomes part of the character. Then it should not be compromised with merely to make a joke.

For example, in the trailer Tenya tells Anna that “Dev tumchi pariksha pahtoy” to which Anna responds, “Ho re, pahilyapasna mala kathinach centre yetat.” It’s actually a really funny joke but the film had already established that Anna has only studied till the fourth standard, so the joke loses its charm.

Of the cast, only Sanjay Narvekar gets to show his acting chops. His usual acute comic timing comes in handy, too. Sadly, all other actors are wasted, with their characters reduced to caricatures. It is really unfortunate that gifted actors like Anand Ingle and Priyadarshan Jadhav are made to rely on poorly written puns and over-the-top expressions.

Ye Re Ye Re Paisa 2 also features a surprising guest appearance by one of Marathi cinema's prominent filmmakers.

Hemant Dhome has mostly relied on poor gags and puns, but beyond a point they don’t make you laugh. Besides this, there is nothing worth mentioning about his direction.

Ye Re Ye Re Paisa 2 also disappoints the viewer on the music front. Both the original tracks are forgettable while even the remixed version of 'Ashwini Ye Na' leaves you disappointed. Unnecessarily loud background music just makes matters worse.

The film looks good on the big screen, though some of the credit should go to the beautiful city of London itself. Otherwise, Ye Re Ye Re Paisa 2 is a very poor attempt to cash in on the success of the first film, which itself was no great movie.

(It is announced in the end credits that we will soon get a third part. If that does happen, it will be only the second trilogy in Marathi cinema.)