Hats Off Productions Ltd.’s Khichdi 2 is a comedy. It is the sequel to Khichdi. As is well-known, it is an extension of the very popular Khichdi TV serial. Hansa (Supriya Pathak), Jayshree (Vandana Pathak), Praful (Rajeev Mehta), Babuji (Anang Desai) and Himanshu (J.D. Majethia) set out on a mission to rescue an Indian scientist who has been held captive by the king (Rajeev Mehta) of Paanthukistan. They all reach Paanthukistan, a fictional country, and try to track down the scientist (Paresh Ganatra). Praful impersonates the king because of the similarity in their looks. How they trace the scientist and escape with him from Paanthukistan forms the crux of the drama.
Aatish Kapadia has written a farcical story which is in the spirit of the television serial. But while television viewers happily accept such farcical stories, it is a bit different when it comes to the film-going public. Even film-goers would accept a farce provided it is well-written but in this case, the storyline is so thin and the story is so shoddily written that the viewers simply don’t get involved. Aatish Kapadia’s screenplay, with additional screenplay by Sourav Ghosh, is sketchy and repetitive. Scenes come one after the other without engaging the audience. Since the scenes are so weak, they don’t create comedy of the kind one would desire. Aatish Kapadia’s dialogues are very good and many of them are punch-packed. Having said that, it must be added that several of them are subtle and, therefore, class-appealing.
Supriya Pathak shines as Hansa, elevating some of the scenes with her easy-going acting. Jamnadas Majethia is very good in the role of Himanshu. Rajeev Mehta is supremely entertaining as Praful. Vandana Pathak is wonderful in the role of Jayshree. Anang Desai impresses as Babuji. Kirti Kulhari makes her presence amply felt as Girl Parminder. Farah Khan plays herself effectively. Pratik Gandhi has his moments as the pilot. Paresh Ganatra leaves a mark as the scientist. Anant Vidhaat is lovely as Kushal. Kiku Sharda makes his mark as Robot. The dialogues mouthed by him are entertaining. Reyaansh Vir Chaddha is alright as Wazir. Flora Saini evokes laughter with her repetition of words, in the role of Rani Gulkanda. Vishal D. Malhotra and Somit Jain are okay as General Zaffran and Major Zarda respectively. Harry Josh is quite nice as Tambakulal. Arisht Jain (as Jacky), Shivika Sharda (as Chakki), Keith Handa (as Bhai Parminder), Amit Srikant Singh (as the police inspector), Piyush Pandey (as Gopal), Shilpi (as Gopi), Mahi Soni (as Supari), Swati Das (as Katri), Raymond (as Lord Mittibartan), Junaid and Pradeep (both as servants), and Prakash Jha, Manoj Balaji and Jitendra Nishad (all three as shopkeepers) lend routine support.
Aatish Kapadia’s direction is ordinary mainly because it is limited by the weak drama. Chirantan Bhatt’s music is quite alright. Manoj Yadav’s lyrics are okay. Song picturisations (by Ganesh Acharya) are entertaining. Raju Singh’s background music is so-so. Vijay G.R. Soni’s cinematography is of a fine standard. Raj Shinde’s action and stunt scenes are functional. Jayant Deshmukh’s production designing is average. Ajay A. Kumar’s editing is loose.
On the whole, Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukistan is not the kind of comedy which will have the audience in splits. It will, therefore, not be able to make any mark at the ticket windows. Business in Gujarat will be slightly okay because of the Gujarati characters.
Released on 17-11-’23 at Inox (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Zee Studios. Publicity: fair. Opening: so-so. …….Also released all over. Opening was very ordinary almost everywhere.