Ayushmann Khurrana
Karamveer Singh/Pooja
Overview
Karam, a small-town boy from Mathura, is struggling every day to pay his father's debt, who has borrowed money from nearly everyone on the planet. On the other hand, he is deeply in love with Pari, whose father has kept the conditions to marry her. To make ends meet, Karam dons as Pooja, which creates wild chaos and a comedy of errors.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Joke’s on Us: Dream Girl 2 and the Cost of Easy Laughs
I’ll admit it: I laughed. Not at the right moments, not in the way the film intended, but somewhere in the middle of Dream Girl 2, as Ayushmann Khurrana’s Karam stuffed oranges into a bra for the third time, I snorted. It was the kind of laugh that comes from exhaustion, the kind that escapes when you’ve given up on coherence and just want the ride to end.
That, in a nutshell, is the problem with Raaj Shaandilyaa’s spiritual sequel—a film so desperate to be funny that it forgets to be anything else.
The premise is simple, almost charming in its absurdity: Karam, a small-town boy drowning in debt, dons a sari and becomes "Pooja," a woman whose voice and mannerisms accidentally charm half the town. It’s a setup that could have been a sharp satire of gender performance, a la Mrs. Doubtfire or Tootsie, but Dream Girl 2 has no interest in subtlety.
Instead, it treats cross-dressing as a punchline in itself, a gag to be milked until the udder runs dry. The film’s idea of humor is to have Karam/Pooja trip over his own sari, or to have a character mistake him for a woman and then react with exaggerated horror. It’s the kind of comedy that feels like it was written by a room full of men who’ve never actually spoken to a woman, let alone tried to impersonate one.
And yet, Khurrana commits. Oh, how he commits. There’s something almost admirable in the way he throws himself into the role, modulating his voice into a shrill falsetto, contorting his face into expressions of exaggerated femininity, and even mastering the art of walking in heels (or at least, the film’s version of it).
It’s the kind of performance that could have been campy and delightful in a different movie, but here it feels like watching a talented actor run a marathon in clown shoes. The problem isn’t his effort; it’s that the film never gives him anything to play against. There’s no moment of quiet reflection, no hint that Karam might be grappling with the implications of his deception.
He’s just a man in a dress, and the film is content to let that be the joke.
The supporting cast, a who’s-who of Bollywood’s comedy veterans, doesn’t fare much better. Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor, and Vijay Raaz are all actors capable of stealing scenes with a single raised eyebrow, but here they’re reduced to shouting over each other in a series of increasingly frantic set pieces. The film’s idea of a "hilarious" ensemble moment is to have them all crowd into a single frame, talking over one another like a dysfunctional family at a wedding.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
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This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsBehind the Laughs: The Making of Dream Girl 2
Dream Girl 2 (2023) brought back the chaotic charm of its predecessor, this time with Mathura as the backdrop for Ayushmann Khurrana’s latest gender-bending comedy. Directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa, the film promised slapstick humor, a star-studded cast, and a plot that leaned into the nautanki tradition of Indian theater. But what went on behind the scenes? latestnetflix.com's read is that here’s what we know—or don’t—about the making of this spiritual sequel.
A Spiritual Sequel, Not a Direct Follow-Up
While Dream Girl 2 shares its director, much of its cast, and the same brand of over-the-top comedy with the 2019 hit Dream Girl, it’s not a direct sequel. Shaandilyaa described it as a "spiritual sequel," meaning it retains the essence of the original—Khurrana playing a man who impersonates a woman—without continuing the same storyline. The first film saw Khurrana’s character, Karam, accidentally becoming a phone sex operator under the alias "Pooja," leading to a series of hilarious misunderstandings. This time, the chaos unfolds in Mathura, where Karam’s alter ego creates a fresh wave of pandemonium.
The shift from a direct sequel to a spiritual one might have been a creative choice to avoid repetition, but it also left some fans wondering if the film could stand on its own. Reviews were mixed, with critics noting that while Khurrana had his moments, the humor often veered into frantic territory.
The Cast: Familiar Faces, New Dynamics
Khurrana and Ananya Panday led the cast, with the latter playing Pari, Karam’s love interest. But the real scene-stealers were the veterans: Paresh Rawal, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, and Rajpal Yadav, all of whom returned from the first film. Their chemistry was a major selling point, with Rawal and Kapoor in particular known for their impeccable comic timing.
One unanswered question is how the cast dynamics evolved from the first film. Did the actors improvise, or did Shaandilyaa stick to a tightly scripted plan? The evidence doesn’t say, but given the nautanki influences, it’s likely there was room for spontaneity. Rumor has it that Rawal, a master of improvisational comedy, may have added his own flair to scenes, though this remains unconfirmed.
Panday’s role as Pari was a departure from her usual glamorous roles, and early buzz suggested she embraced the small-town vibe of the character. However, details about her preparation or on-set rapport with Khurrana are scarce.
Production: Ekta Kapoor’s Midas Touch
Produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under Balaji Motion Pictures, Dream Girl 2 had the backing of one of Bollywood’s most commercially savvy producers. Kapoor’s involvement likely ensured a polished final product, though her influence on the film’s creative direction isn’t clear from the available evidence.
What is known is that the film’s budget was modest compared to big-budget Bollywood releases, relying more on the strength of its script and cast than on lavish sets or VFX. The Mathura setting was a key part of the film’s identity, but whether the production shot on location or recreated the town in a studio isn’t specified in the snippets.
Shaandilyaa, known for his work in Hindi television comedy before transitioning to films, brought a distinct style to Dream Girl 2. His background in relatable, humorous narratives was evident in the film’s tone, which balanced slapstick with moments of sincerity. However, the evidence doesn’t reveal whether he faced any creative challenges during filming.
The Verdict: Did It Deliver?
Critics were divided on Dream Girl 2. Some praised Khurrana’s performance and the film’s energy, while others felt the humor was too chaotic, lacking the finesse of the original. The box office performance, though not a flop, didn’t quite match the success of Dream Girl (2019), suggesting that audiences may have preferred a more straightforward sequel.
One thing is clear: the film’s legacy is tied to its predecessor. Without the first Dream Girl, it’s unlikely this spiritual sequel would have generated the same buzz. Whether Shaandilyaa and Khurrana will revisit this universe again remains to be seen.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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