The man has kept the nation chuckling and chortling ever since he was contestant and later winner of the comedy reality television show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’s third season, in 2007. From there to other wins and finally his own shows, which still flourish, Kapil Sharma (who had initially come to Mumbai to become a singer!) has progressed on his own terms of comedy—immensely witty, crazy, sometimes over-the-top, but always clean and family-oriented. His cracks, one-liners and audiovisual delights can be enjoyed both with grandparents and grandkids.

And that is why the forced seductive track, Aaja hulchul karenge, both as a situation and with erotic skin-show, stands out like a sore thumb: Why was this necessary, Kapil paaji?

10 years ago, Kapil made his acting (and singing) debut with the insipid Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon, which saw his character saddled with many wives. The idea is repeated here at core, justifying the spirit’ual sequel, but now the main writer (Anukalp Goswami, who also is a creative part of Kapil’s shows) is promoted to director, while original directors Abbas-Mustan (who also co-produced the earlier film with Venus Records and Tapes) continue only as co-producers with Venus, now named Venus Entertainment, as Records and Tapes are obsolete.

And happily, Anukalp scores both as writer and director, though in the former avatar, he again homes in on an absurd and quite stagey premise of a man saddled with multiple spouses due to no fault of his.

Whose fault is it then? Well, Mohan (Kapil Sharma) is from Bhopal, and in love with the Muslim girl, Sanya (Hina Warina, the same girl who used to call herself Warina Hussain—remember Loveyatri?). But their parents are hyper-orthodox and have themselves planned spouses for them: Mohan is to wed Meera (Tridha Choudhury), while Sanya will get Mehmood (Anil Charanjeett). 

But a desperate Mohan agrees to convert to Mehmood, a Muslim, himself, but does not inform Sanya (strange!), who thinks she will have to wed the actual Mehmood and runs away. And so, Mohan finds he has a substitute wife after the qubool hai rituals are over and he lifts the bridal veil: Ruhi (Ayesha Khan)! 

But worse is in store. His family bumps him unconscious and weds him off to Meera as per a promise made in childhood by the parents to each other. Mohan juggles both for a short while, while Sanya calls him suddenly from Goa and summons him for a community church wedding where she calls herself Rosie and he must be Michael! Without hearing Mohan’s side of his stories, she shuts the phone, stating that her parents might trace her call!

Due to a chain of circumstances, Mohan heads there, and so do Ruhi and Meera, and the fourth person in the fray is Mohan’s BFF, Hubby (Manjot Singh). But Sanya does not appear, and now Mohan finds himself wed to Jenny (Parul Gulati), whose boyfriend has ditched her at the last moment, and she has been saved from death due to shock by Mohan who saves her life with CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation)!

The rest of the film is a pandemonium of fun and complications as Mohan juggles three wives and still yearns for Sanya. Jenny’s brother is the fierce cop, DD (Sushant Singh), who is investigating the case of a man who has married thrice as reported by a church priest (Asrani, delightful in what might be his last work). And this is because a repentant Mohan had confessed there before chickening out and revealing his identity (in confessionals, one’s face is not seen)!

What happens when Sanya reappears and Mohan is now saddled with a wife from yet another religion and the humorous situations that come out of this marital madness is what the film is about.

Not to mention the superb cameo appearance by Ginni Kapil Sharma, the actor’s real wife, who emerges as a complete natural at acting, so much so that methinks we will get a third franchise film with her in at least one of the leads!

Kapil is in masterly command of himself and Manjot Singh as Hubby (who has his own side-track of a woman activist misunderstanding his intentions, thanks to his nickname) is perfect. The heroines do what is necessary, with Tridha having the maximum footage. Sushant Singh and Asrani are fabulous, while the supporting actors—parents Akhilendra Mishra and Supriya Shukla and Vipin Sharma and Smita Jayakar—do well. 

In smaller roles, Anil Charanjeett as the actual Mehmood, Jamie Lever as the activist and Shrikant Sharma as the blood donation clerk are all effective along with that delightful child artiste, Aarav Rakesh Jain as Rizwan.

Technically adroit, the film has a deft script that gives a relaxing, sit back-and-enjoy flavor with some situations proving especially hilarious, like Jamie’s first encounter with Hubby, Ruhi and Meera, or DD’s interaction with Mehmood at the police station.

Logic obviously goes for a toss, with even Goa and Bhopal freely ambiguous as locations for the plot, and every other aspect, such as where the three wives are housed. But for once, the breezy and zany tenor makes us merely enjoy the twists in the script, the punches in the lines, and the general cascade of fun.

The music is forgettable, which is regrettable as (a) Kapil had come to be a singer and is quite adept as natural (b) comedies gain to a humongous extent with good songs, something even Rohit Shetty, Indra Kumar and Anees Bazmee have forgotten!) (c) Abbas-Mustan’s films till successful, had good to great music and (d) the same was true for films produced earlier by Venus, a music label that gave us Khiladi, Baazigarand more. The craze for song ‘providers’ rather than composers is a prime reason for the downfall of music.

Rating: ***1/2

Venus Entertainment , Abbas-Mustan Films present Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon 2 Produced by: Ratan Jain, Ganesh Jain & Abbas-Mustan Written & directed by: Anukalp Goswami Music: Phurr, YO YO Honey Singh, DigV, Parikshit & Nishadh & Yug Bhusal  Starring: Kapil Sharma, Hina Warina, Parul Gulati, Tridha Choudhury, Ayesha Khan, Asrani, Akhilendra Mishra, Supriya Shukla, Vipin Sharma, Smita Jayakar, Sushant Singh, Aarav Rakesh Jain,  Jamie Lever, Anil Charanjeet & others

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