YAARIYAN 2 is the story of three cousins. Laadli Chibber (Divya Khosla Kumar) lives in Shimla with her mother (Lillete Dubey). She was suffering from thalassemia but has now recovered. Laadli wanted to fall in love and then get married. Her mother, however, asks her to meet Abhay Singh Katyal (Yash Das Gupta). Both click and they decide to get married. Laadli immediately calls Shikhar (Meezaan Jafri) and Bajrang Das Khatri aka Bajju (Pearl V Puri), her cousins who are closest to her, for her wedding. After marriage, Laadli moves to Mumbai with Abhay. Bajju, too, works in Mumbai. Shikhar is forced to shift to Mumbai and work as a delivery boy after he faces a roadblock in his biking career. Laadli faces trouble in marriage as Abhay seems indifferent to her. Shikhar changes his SIM card and gets hounded with calls from Ikroor (Anaswara Rajan). He meets her and both fall in love. Bajju, meanwhile, begins a relationship with Shona (Warina Hussain). Shikhar, however, has reservations about Shona and her behaviour. This causes a rift between the trio. What happens next forms the rest of the film. YAARIYAN 2 is based on BANGALORE DAYS [2014] and the story is promising. We have seen films about siblings and friends. A film about cousins is rare. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's screenplay flows well and is replete with some nice dramatic and emotional sequences. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's dialogues are youthful and modern. However, the dialogue about nappies is repeated far too many times. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's direction is creative. The director duo is known for adding a lot even to their ordinary shots. This trademark stamp is visible from start to finish. While they handle all tracks well, the track of the dead girl's parents is very moving. The race sequence, meanwhile, is gripping. On the flipside, there's hardly any comedy. For a film about friendship, there should have been more humour. The character of Bajji gets a raw deal in the second half as he is hardly there. Moreover, at 150 minutes, the film is too lengthy. Speaking of performances, Divya Khosla Kumar looks charming and performs the difficult role with ease. Meezaan Jafri shows a marked improvement compared to his work in HUNGAMA 2 [2021]. Pearl V Puri is decent but could have been better. Yash Das Gupta emerges as the best performer in the film. Warina Hussain looks stunning but could have done better in some difficult scenes. Bhagyashri Borse (Raajlaxmi) looks stunning and leaves a mark. Anaswara Rajan is lovely but goes over the top in emotional scenes. Priya Prakash Warrier is wasted. Murli Sharma is dependable. Lillete Dubey hams. The songs are decent though it's in no way close to the hit soundtrack of YAARIYAN [2014]. 'Saure Ghar' is the best followed by 'Simroon Tera Naam', 'Oonchi Oonchi Deewarein', 'Suit Patiala', 'Heer Bhi Roye', 'Peene De' and 'Bewafaa Tu'. 'Sunny Sunny 2.0' and 'Blue Hai Paani Paani' are just okay. JAM8's background score is functional. C R Ravi Yadav's cinematography is stunning. Mumbai has never been captured like this before. Shankar Samanta's production design is rich. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's costumes are glamorous, especially the ones worn by Raajlaxmi. Allan Amin's action is fine. Abhishek Kumar Singh's editing is weak. The film should have been shorter by 15-20 minutes. On the whole, YAARIYAN 2 is a decent entertainer.Read more

Based on the Malayalam movie Bangalore Days, Yaariyan 2 is about Laadli Chhiber (Divya Khosla Kumar), Shikhar Randhawa (Meezaan Jafri), and Bajrang, aka Bajju (Pearl V Puri), three cousins who have compromised on their lives and dreams to fulfil their parents’ expectations (which they cheekily call repaying the nappy-changer’s debt), and relocate to Mumbai. But Laadli finds herself in a loveless marriage to Abhay Singh Katyal (Yash Daasguptaa), Shikhar is a bike racer from a broken home facing a lifelong racing ban, and Bajju is stuck in a corporate job with a demanding boss. Despite these odds, the ‘cousins by blood but friends by choice’ indulge in goofy shenanigans and stand rock solid by each other while facing personal crises. The drama by director and screenplay writer duo Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru could have benefited from a tighter screenplay and a more focused storyline. Parents being unreasonable in their expectations is a recurring theme, but the narrative does not dig deeper into it. The story deals with how Laadli, Shikhar, and Bajju’s lives change as they give in to parental pressures, but the issue remains unresolved. The plot that the film begins with deviates and brings in too many tracks, including loss of loved ones, break-ups, and the three lead protagonists’ relationship through it all. These add to the movie's length, and the viewer’s attention flits from one track and character to the other. This especially becomes the case with a back story given to each character besides the main leads. While the relationship between the cousins has been depicted well, the rest of the tracks seem predictable. Divya Khosla Kumar and debutantes Meezaan Jafri and Pearl V Puri display great camaraderie as cousins and friends, whether in the light and fun moments, conflicts or having each other’s back. Yash Daasguptaa plays his part as a moping husband well. His character as a serious, prim, and proper businessman who accepts his bling and fun-loving wife the way she is makes him interesting. The movie also stars Anaswara Rajan as Shikhar’s love interest, who is passable as a bright but differently-abled girl. The movie’s soundtrack includes hummable numbers from the wedding song, Saure Ghar, and a heartrending Simroon Tera Naam and club banger Peene De. Bike races add some action to this otherwise romantic drama. The movie may appeal to fans of romance and drama as it’s packed with both. But a tightly-knit narrative would have made the film far more engaging.Read more