Movie Review: Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns

Rating:

Review: Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster was a princely tale of love, lust, power and deceit. Not unlike a Sidney Sheldon novel, except in the interior farmlands of Utter Pradesh ruled by the still beloved royals. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns picks up from where part one ends.
For the benefit of those who haven’t seen part 1. Here is a gist:

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Saheb’s (Jimmy Shergill) royal family now suffers political and financial depletion. Saheb to top it all has many enemies and vices, namely- women.  His Begum (Mahi Gill) hits the bottle because of the Nawab’s interest in his beautiful mistress. The drama deepens when a rival gang plant’s Babloo (Hooda) in the guise of a driver. Babloo begins a relationship with the Begum and driven by his hunger for power tries to kill Saheb.
In the end, it leaves Saheb crippled in a wheelchair and his Begum in charge of his land. 
The first half of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns introduces the new characters in this drama. Raja Bhaiyya (Irrfan Khan), a prince is his own right, his ancestors destroyed by Saheb’s family. His love interest, princess Ranjana (Soha Ali Khan) a mere pawn in a royal game of deceit and political arm twisting. Dhulia writes a script with so many unpredictable characters that turn on each other for power, lust and sometimes even for love.

True to the original, the sequel is a dangerous representation of the greedy game that is the battleground of North Indian politics. Played as much with bullets as it is with shrewdness and cunning.
Whistle worthy moments from Dhulia’s pen: A top notch politician’s loss of excitement when a male journalist interviews him instead of a female. Raja Bhaiyya’s conclusion that the same politician can be personified as a sensitive tomato. Yes, sensitive, porn watching tomato – not kidding. Irrfan is given some of the wittiest dialogues in the film while Jimmy, some of the most powerful. Example, when Saheb says “Men curse more because they cry less.” or when he yells at a guest taking pictures of his haveli saying “This is my home, not a museum. We are not relics yet.”
Verdict: A sequel in the true sense. Better performances. But it’s the same old lust, deceit & power struggle all over again.
Malvika Rao 
Movie Details
Release Date: Mar 8, 2013
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Genre: Crime,Drama,Romance,Thriller
Run time: 2 hr 26 mins
Language: Hindi
Cast & Crew: Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Jimmy Shergill, Mahi Gill, Raj Babbar