‘De De Pyaar De 2’ (2025) Movie Review - A Movie About Moviemaking

Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh) loves Ashish (Ajay Devgn), and Ashish loves Ayesha. He is a 52-year-old finance guy, and she is a 28-year-old woman. In De De Pyaar De, the couple went to Ashish's house and got their approval. In De De Pyaar De 2, the couple goes to Ayesha's house and...well, I want to give a spoiler warning, but we all know how a mainstream movie like this usually ends. Still, within those mainstream confines, DDPD 2 ventures into unusual territories, and if I were Ayesha, I would have complimented it by saying, "Very nice, very mature." After an amusing recap of DDPD during the opening credits (the "Chale Aana" song receives a hilarious treatment), Ayesha and Ashish plan to visit the former's family members. She assures him that her parents are not dramebaaz, and her parents — Rakesh (R. Madhavan) and Anju (Gautami Kapoor) — often comment that they are "progressive" and "modern." In DDPD 2, writers Tarun Jain and Luv Ranjan suggest that no one is really progressive or modern. Everybody has their own flaws, their own blind spots, which they cover by maintaining a facade of modernity through seemingly liberal statements. On the surface, Rakesh tries to smile and compose himself in front of Ayesha and his boyfriend. In the bedroom, he and his wife gossip and criticize Ashish and his mannerisms (Rakesh can't digest the fact that Ashish doesn't eat daal). Rakesh, in fact, calls Ashish "shaitaan."

Of course, a regular moviegoer will instantly detect the Shaitaan reunion. In Vikas Bahl's horror film, Madhavan played a monster who takes Devgn's character's daughter. But look a little closer, and you will find that like Shaitaan, DDPD 2 is also about a father who doesn't want to give his daughter to a man he doesn't trust — to a man who, in his eyes, is a villain. And speaking of reunions, Devgn and Ishita Dutta are back on screen together after Drishyam. Madhavan, in DDPD 2, has a small scar on his forehead that makes him intimidating to watch whenever he loses his temper. He is scarier here than he ever was in Shaitaan. But Madhavan also looks like a cute teddy bear when he attempts to be a genial family man, a man who wants to be Ayesha's best friend, not father. Now, that's practically a Herculean task. As Rakesh and Anju ask about their daughter's boyfriend and posture as open-minded, the camera captures them from a low angle, their faces dominating the frame so oppressively that they seem to control Ayesha by sheer presence. Rakesh is somewhat like Manju here. And the sequel, overall, has some traces of its prequel. If Ashish, in DDPD, lies to Manju that Ayesha is his secretary. Rakesh, in DDPD 2, lies to some friends, saying Ashish is an old friend. If Ayesha, after Ashish and Manju's intimate moment, went back to London. Ashish, after an intimate moment between Ayesha and Aditya (Meezaan Jafri), goes back to London. Talk about old wine in a new bottle. 

Nonetheless, DDPD 2 is an improvement over its prequel. For starters, we don't get a dull, "story stopper" sad song like Chale Aana here. DDPD 2 has sad songs, but they don't disrupt the movie's flow or momentum. The comedy is still just okayish (the "Buddha Mil Gaya" touch is too on the nose), though there is a superb scene where the shift from drama to comedy occurs very smoothly, very skillfully. It comes when Rakesh realizes his mistake and decides to go to London. The change in tone happens organically — it's motivated by the character's actions. This is something that's missing from other portions, as comedy and drama seem to emerge more from sound cues and strict plot requirements. Still, DDPD 2, like DDPD, works best when it's in the realm of drama. This is where all the good stuff is present. I liked this line from Ronak (Jaaved Jaaferi): "Ladai ka haq nhi khoya jaata hai. Haq ki ladai ladi jaati hai," or something like that. In one scene, Ayesha gets fed up with Rakesh, stops the car, confronts him, and tells him to just say what he actually thinks about her and her boyfriend. Rakesh actually ends up calling Ashish a "tharki buddha" and says Ayesha is a woman of loose sexual morals. Madhavan superbly — and terrifyingly — foregrounds Rakesh's ego, and Devgn almost makes you hear Ashish's heart breaking into a million pieces. Rakul Preet's performance is comparatively weaker, but as a lively, energetic woman, she is fine and quite believable. Some of Kapoor's reactions put a smile on your face, but one wishes she had a better role. She is neither properly used as an instigator nor as Rakesh's moral conscience. 

When the young Jaaferi makes his appearance, Devgn looks at him with such a "proud daddy face" that I had to check if, in real life, he is the actor's son. I almost expected a cameo from Kajol when Ashish asked about Ronak's mother. With a muscular, toned body and eight-pack abs, Ronak emerges from the water like a Playboy magazine model. Two girls even ask him to flirt with them. Ronak, however, sets his eyes on Ayesha, and the movie enters a love triangle. I found it interesting that Ayesha, too, shows signs of reciprocating Ronak's feelings for her. And when that kiss happened, I thought DDPD 2 would do something incredibly complex: It would draw a line between love and hormonal urges. It's a tricky territory, and DDPD 2 doesn't really go there. What it does instead is turn the story into a game of the puppet masters. Rakesh is not the only person controlling the strings here. There is someone else with far more control and power. DDPD 2, then, can be seen as a movie about movies or a movie about movie directors. The characters in a film might think they are shaping their path, their future, but unbeknownst to them, they are being controlled by a filmmaker. Similarly, someone in DDPD 2 thinks they are influencing the course of events, but the reality is different. (Slight spoilers start from here) Ayesha, on the other hand, is very much a movie director figure, executing her goals and vision by hiring her "cast" and assigning them roles and dialogue. (Slight spoilers end here) Also, on a narrative level, the emotional manipulation makes sense as it becomes a last resort, a necessary requirement because face-to-face conversations don't yield the desired results. They don't awaken a father's good sense; they don't allow a woman to make herself feel seen, heard, important. I wish this agency had more depth. I still don't know Ayesha's profession. Does she have other ambitions besides getting married to a 52-year-old man? Does she want to have a career? I admit that much of DDPD has faded from my mind, but I don't think these questions were answered there — or were they? 

Anyway, it's commendable that DDPD 2 doesn't paint anyone in villainous shades just to create easy distinctions. We understand the perspective of every character, even when we don't necessarily agree with them. Sure, Rakesh is viewed through a "bad guy" lens, but that doesn't mean we fail to see how his choices stem from good intentions. If anything, DDPD 2 reveals how parents turn themselves into villains simply by caring too much about their children. DDPD 2 is, ultimately, a father-daughter love story — it's Rakesh and Ayesha who meet, break up, and patch things up.

Final Score- [7/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times