Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns

If I asked you to narrate the plot of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, it would just be darn good fun to hear what you'd say. For starters, you will take ample time before offering a concise answer. The answer itself will exhibit what the film actually is - an interesting mess. This isn't because it is badly executed or acted, it's just unevenly scripted. While some dialogues and plot turns showcase true talent and originality, unfortunately, there is always a dead end waiting for it. If there is a single word to describe the film it would be: convoluted.

Post the events of the 2011 film - Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, the situation royale stands thus - Biwi is still an alcoholic but Saheb is now a gamer. No seriously, since he became partially paralyzed he plays video games on his Playstation. No, he doesn't do that throughout the film, thank god. Moving on. Gangster is Indrajeet (Irrfan Khan takes on the baton from Randeep Hooda). He is in love with Ranjhna (Soha Ali Khan), a princess. Saheb decides to be a bigamist and wed the young princess. A few blackmails and double-crosses later it is decided that Indrajeet will kill the Saheb before the union takes place. Cute.

I actively despise indulging in plot details but I do have a specific reason for telling you bits of the premise. Since what we have left of it when the film ends is a haze. All the promises end in betrayal. The boiling drama is all but vapourized. (Minor spoilers ahead) It is hard to make sense out of Indrajeet's trigger-mopey choices. Moreover, how the character of princess Ranjhna winds up at the end is utterly baffling and highly witless. (End of minor spoilers)

On the bright side, Irrfan Khan kicks ass. He not only gets the best dialogues but he seems to be the only one who gets the humor in Tigmanshu's script right. He becomes the writer's mouthpiece. Although for me, the actor who ruled was Jimmy Shergill. If there is an actor who leaves his footprints on this franchise, it is this man. We've seen him in supporting roles, winning praises for his performances. I think it's time to let him stretch out a bit and go for a major role; he's ready for it.

Soha Ali Khan is adequate. Mahie Gill isn't quite. Simply put, she is like a piece of chalk screeching on a blackboard. Good god, her sad-drunk voice is nearly unbearable. The women in this film are tastelessly written, some even cheap. Not to mention, the god-awful item song.

While the untidy plot continues to get increasingly entangled, you can't help but look at your watch. The film is far too long. Clocking in at 2 and a half hours, it feels even longer. It is never about how long a film actually is but how long it feels. The previous film was roughly 1 hour 50 minutes but due to the tight screenplay the runtime was never a point of debate.

In all honesty, I'm not the perfect audience for Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster or its sequel. I didn't love the first film either, it was strictly okay, hardly anything spectacular. (Spectacular would be Abrar Alvi's Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. That's right). The sequel - Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns is neither good enough nor is it spectacular. Although it does make a case to be both.

Remember those stories about Rajas and Maharajas? The palaces and the treasures, those stories of heroism? I like those. I'm sure the modern day version wouldn't be so childishly idealized but this...? They are petty gangsters? I just don't understand the mix. While I was watching the film, I kept wondering about royalty and class. No, not classy gentry but filmmaking class. That's what Tigmanshu Dhulia's movies don't possess, and I just can't seem to acquire a taste for the lack of it. There is a good movie in there, but what's dug out is a rough stone and a failure to carve and polish it.

Firstly, what sort of a name is SBG returns? Who returns? What returns? Makes no sense. They could have just called it SBG 2 since it clearly picks up the story from where we left it last it last time. And then you figure the rest of the movie doesn't make much sense also till maybe the last half hour when the director realizes he has wasted enough time being indulgent and brings everything to a close.

I would think that if you are making a sequel you have a lot of material to work with. Your characters are already in our minds with well-defined personalities and you can build layers into them and the story can progress given the complexities of these characters. But Dhulia makes no such attempt. In fact, the characters regress and become almost cardboard like in their uni-dimensionality. Madhvi becomes a total drunk, Saheb becomes even more stone faced. Only the gangster propels the movie forward a bit. I don't know what Soha's character is doing at all.

There is a lot going on here that is not brought to the surface. The biwi's insecurity about the new woman (played by Soha) , her motivations for getting into politics- is it love, revenge, power, neglect? We cant understand. All we see is her drinking, tottering around, taking baths or trying to seduce Irrfan. Her character doesn't develop till like almost the last scene.

Mahie Gill looks great but her acting here is the weakest link in the whole film. It's over the top and too flaky. We don't get to see the inner working of her mind and it's a big disappointment. Irrfan as the gangster Thakur out to seek revenge has a rakish charm and is the only dynamic character. Soha looks elegant and princess. Jimmy Shergill has to just have one expression which is very easy for him to do.

I hope there is a SBG 3 and this time Dhulia takes it forward better. There is so much in this story to explore and experiment with- the characters, the setting, just the story is missing.

See it if you are curious but be warned this one is headachy and sleep inducing most of the time. It's just towards the end that you start getting into the story and that is just too late.

Sample this Irrfan tells Mahie Gill “ ishq koi karta nahi, aadmi ishq mein hota hai, aur woh dikhta hai” or this line which Jimmy Shergill tells Soha Ali Khan “ pata hai mard zyaada gaali kyun dete hain? Kyunki who rote kam hain”

Sahib biwi aur gangster returns was enjoyable just for the dialogues and three characters, sahib, gangster and minister Prabhu Tiwari ( Rajeev Gupta). His one scene with Irrfan is an instant classic and the paisa vasool scene for me in the entire film.

Ek tha wheelchair bound raja Aditya ( Jimmy Shergill), wheel chair bound raja sees a picture of Ranjana ( Soha Ali Khan) and falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Ranjana loves Indrajeet ( Irrfan) who has a score to settle with Aditya. Ek thi bevdi rani Madhvi ( Mahie Gill) who drinks, drinks and showcases her bad acting skills in almost every scene. Their lives get entangled into one big mess of politics, personal vendetta and love which the director himself is not able to sort out by the time it ends.

The story is all over the place. The screenplay is structured like a chess game and even a novice at the game would be able to predict the twist and turns. What pained me most is how badly Mahie Gill plays the central character of biwi. Wish Tigmanshu would have told her “ rehne do Mahie tumse na hoga”.How I was missing Tabu in this film, in this role. Every time Mahie was on screen I was imagining how Tabu would have played out the scene. To add to that Soha Ali Khan and Pravesh Rana are another example of bad casting. Besides Irrfan and Jimmy it is the smaller roles and actors that shine instead of its central protagonist.

Word of mouth - Saheb aur Gangster toh theek hai, Biwi ne film ki bandh baja di.

Rating - ** * ( Above Average)

Ticket meter - worth 200 bucks

The sequel always messes it up.

In the first, Tigmanshu Dhulia got the character-dynamics perfectly right. It was a brilliant and a revelatory story about crumbling feudalism and its awkward interception with the political class. The new film - let's not fool ourselves or get swayed by the overbearing hustle-bustle - is plainly an exercise in excess, and although Dhulia nails it with his razor-sharp one-liners that brim with the wit of a desi Aaron Sorkin; it cannot sustain the interest in a plot that is not only over-wrought but also lacks a sense of depth and meaning.

The themes of ambition and power, jealousy and greed, alcoholism and sex remain as it is, but it's the attempt that seems to obvious and convoluted which makes this one a lesser film than the previous. Even if we leave aside the direct comparison, Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster Returns isn't half as atmospheric and neither does it posses the palpable tension which made the first an exciting drama to watch.

Jimmy Shergil's crippled prince recovers even as his wife, Mahie Gill's Madhavi uses his physical incapacity to buy time and extend her own political leverage. In the meanwhile, the political class of Uttar Pradesh is ripe with rumors of a division of state, and for this the four prince-cum-MLAs must reach a mutual consent. The snob and the most manipulative of them - Jimmy Shergil, demands to be married to Raj Babbar's daughter, played with effective understatement by Soha Ali Khan, who in turn is passionately in love with an apparent lobbyist (and once Royal) Irfan Khan.

It requires tremendous amount of concentration to see a crowd of characters scheming their way to the top, but to no clear results, and quite often their elaborate schemes to manipulate are over-written, or no fun to watch. When the film becomes a power game, and the relationship dynamics change - Irfan and Mahie get intimately involved triggering an uncertain Soha to invariably develop feelings for the sole Prince Charming, the film leaves us nobody to really root for.

In the urge to please with classic one-liners, the story gets compromised on. The long running time of nearly 3 hours doesn't help either. It is only the performances that manage to keep the viewers attention intact. Irfan, unsurprisingly leads the pack with Jimmy Shergil giving his career's best (of little that he had), and Soha Ali Khan being as charming as she's effusive. Mahie Gill appears confused, not because her character is prone to mood-swings, but she plays the part with an inconsistent body-language and dialogue-delivery. Seductress, as she convincingly looks, her act isn't all that tempting.

Overall, the film has a few high points and some very funny moments, but has to subscribe to gimmicks rather than solely on its story (like was the case in the previous one). An RGV-inspired background score leads to further disappointment. The sequel always messes it up.

Ghamasaan hoga!kasam mere mucho ki!says Irfaan.True there is ghamasaan ,lots of ghamasaan.Its like no other film youv'e seen lately.This is novel,refreshing and royal.

Yes,indeed the story is above average,not spectacular but the screenplay,dialogues and performances win your heart away.Aditya Pratap singh(saheb-played by jimmy shergil) is on a wheelcahir now.That is the reason why his wife madhvi(biwi-played by mahie gill) is the MLA of the region.Nonetheless,its just for namesake ,its King aditya who has the power since his wife madhvi is an alcoholic(always engrossed in it) who quite often asks money to saheb for her alcohol needs.There are indeed 5 Raja's in Uttar pradesh,Rao saheb(raj babbar) is one of them(an MlLA of his region). He has a beautiful daughter ranjana(soha ali khan) who is in love with Inderjit(gangster-irfan).Aditya's mother wants Aditya to marry ranjana and Yes,offcourse Aditya wants Madhvi out of his life.

Aditya pratap is shrewd and a self obsessed man.He traps Rao saheb's son in a drug case in Dubai.Indeed Aditya has some honorary Sheikh friends in Dubai,he surely can save Rao saheb's son but there is a condition that ranjana will have to marry Aditya.Sad but to no escape Rao saheb has to accept the fact.Then,the engagement takes place between ranjana and Aditya.Rao saheb and Inderjit are both furious,both plan to leave Aditya powerless.Plus,inderjit wants Aditya,s province back since his forefathers lost it to their family.Madhvi comes to scene,she wants to improve for good.Anyways,anything in Aditya's province can't pass without her signature,Matter of the fact she is the MLA of the region.She meets inderjit,he helps him out with the politics.She joins the ruling government party,she is made the president of 'Mahila kalyan aayog'.Meanwhile,madhvi and inderjit get closer.

One day inderjit comes to meet ranjana at aditya's haveli,he doesn't find her,instead he finds madhvi.Both are caught making love by ranjana.Yes,now there is a crack in Inderjit-ranjana relationship.Ranjana now gives support to Aditya.Meanwhile,Aditya can now walk.Now its Madhvi-Inderjit loggerheads with Ranjana-Aditya.Who will come out victorious "Saheb,biwi ya ganster"its for you to see.

The performances are A-grade be it jimmy,soha or irfaan.But the most riveting and outstanding performance comes from Mahie gill.She with her drunkard and errotic act shines like the brightest star.Its just march but already one of the finest performance of the year has come out and that from the powerhouse of talent mahie gill.Yes,the start of the 2nd half goes haywire,the use of make out scene between inderjit and madhvi to create difference in inderjit-ranjana relationship is indeed clishe.Also it seems to easy to enter Aditya's haveli for any stranger.Anways,you can't ask for everything.Indeed this is pardoned!

How can I not aplaud the dialogues which is the heart of "saheb biwi aur gangster returns"Be it madhvi telling inderjit"ye hamesha hame mard hi kyu milte hai shayar kyu nahi milte" or in another scene when inderjit says mai"dopehar ko nahi peeta to which madhvi replies"isiliye to raat badnaam hai".Seriously,the dialogues are the best youv'e heard in the recent past. Indeed saheb,biwi aur gangster returns is a wonderful film with superb characterization, dialogues,performances and an engaging tale of politics,betrayal,love,greed and what not! I am going with a 3.5 out of 5 for "Saheb Biwi aur Gangster returns". "Ye nahi dekha to kya dekha"(with an errotic tone").