Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- -
For a franchise that gave the world "Kajra Re" and "Dharma Productions," the soundtrack of Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- was a letdown. The album, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lacked a memorable anthem.
In a music-driven industry, the film’s lack of a repeatable chartbuster hurt its longevity.
It’s easy to dismiss Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- as just another unnecessary sequel. But in the context of 2021’s Bollywood, it represents a larger trend: the struggle to adapt legacy properties for a Gen-Z audience.
The film’s core conflict—analog parents vs. digital kids—is brilliant on paper. Yet, the resolution feels cheap. Instead of a genuinely complex heist that requires both generations to work together, the film ends with a simplistic "honesty is the best policy" sermon. The cons are sidelined for melodrama.
The new pair is the film’s true energy source. Siddhant, fresh off Gully Boy, plays Kunal with a swaggering, meta-awareness of the first film. He breaks the fourth wall, referencing the “original” Bunty as a legend. Sharvari, making her debut, is a revelation—equal parts cunning and glamorous. Their dance numbers are energetic, and their cons are genuinely creative. The problem is that the film seems confused whether they are villains or heroes. By the end, you almost root for the kids over the veterans.
When a series of spectacular, impossible heists occur across small-town India, the police assume the original Bunty & Babli are back. In reality, two young fans—Kunal and Sonia—have adopted the famous aliases to pull off their own cons. bunty aur babli 2 -2021-
To save their reputation and catch the copycats, the real (now middle-aged) Bunty & Babli come out of retirement. The film becomes a cat-and-mouse game between the OG duo and the new pair, with a bumbling cop (Pankaj Tripathi) caught in between.
Released on November 19, 2021, in the aftermath of the second COVID-19 wave, Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- faced an uphill battle. Competing with Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui and the lingering shadow of Sooryavanshi, the film opened to poor numbers.
Critical Reception: Reviews were mixed to negative. Critics praised the performances of Siddhant and Sharvari but panned the screenplay for being "formulaic and predictable." Many noted that the film suffered from an identity crisis—it wasn't sharp enough to be a clever heist thriller, nor funny enough to be a pure comedy.
Box Office Verdict: The film earned approximately ₹15 crore (net) in India against a reported budget of ₹50 crore. It was officially declared a "Flop" by trade analysts. The bunty aur babli 2 -2021- keyword saw a massive spike during its release week, but audience word-of-mouth was poor, leading to a rapid drop in theater occupancy by the second week.
The film reintroduces us to the original con couple, now middle-aged, retired, and bored out of their minds in a tiny town. Vimmy (Rani Mukerji) longs for the thrill of a high-speed chase; Rakesh (Saif Ali Khan, stepping into Abhishek Bachchan’s shoes) just wants to enjoy his pension of peace and quiet. Their banter retains a flicker of the old magic—Mukerji, in particular, is a force, her eyes still sparkling with mischief. Saif does his trademark weary-royal act, which works in fits and starts. For a franchise that gave the world "Kajra
Their quiet life is upended when a series of flashy, impossible cons—robbing a moving train, duping a diamond dealer—are committed under the "Bunty aur Babli" moniker. The only problem? They’re innocent. The culprits are two restless, tech-savvy youngsters from their own hometown: the brilliant but insecure Bunty (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and the ambitious, fiery Babli (Sharvari Wagh).
What follows is a generational chase: the original con artists are roped in by a beleaguered cop (a woefully underused Pankaj Tripathi) to catch their imitators. The film’s central premise—analog cons vs. digital heists—is brilliant on paper. The veterans rely on sleight of hand and human psychology; the rookies use drones, deepfakes, and cryptocurrency.
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Compared to the 2005 classic, Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- is a significant downgrade. The original had heart, a rebellious streak, and a tragic undertone (the death of a child was a gut punch). The sequel is fluffy, safe, and commercial to a fault.
However, judged purely as a one-time OTT watch (it is available on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix across different regions), it is harmless fun. If you lower your expectations and treat it as a Sunday afternoon popcorn flick, you will enjoy the Bachchan-Mukerji chemistry and a few laugh-out-loud moments.
Rating: 2.5/5
Watch it for: Rani Mukerji’s comic genius, the nostalgic music, and the first 45 minutes. Skip it if: You are a purist of the original film or expect a smart heist thriller.
The biggest crime of Bunty Aur Babli 2 -2021- is its runtime (2 hours 20 minutes). The film runs out of gas by the interval. The cons become repetitive. The "twists" are predictable. By the third act, the initial charm of watching four cons compete devolves into a loud, messy chase sequence where logic takes a complete holiday.
Moreover, the villain (a corporate tycoon played by Pankaj Tripathi) is criminally underused. Having an actor of Tripathi’s caliber standing in a boardroom looking angry is a waste. The film forgets that the best heist movies have memorable antagonists.
The screenplay struggles with tone. It wants to be a family drama (the son’s subplot), a romantic comedy, and a thriller, but often settles for a loose series of sketches. The Hindi dialogues, which were razor-sharp in the original, feel sanitized here.