Without any earthly reason to exhume Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon, part two is here, which recycles its predecessor’s plot with a few changes. Anukalp Goswami, who wrote the 2015 film about a man who accidentally weds three women (inspired by the Ray Cooney farce Run For Your Wife), directs the new movie.
Kapil Sharma, who made his acting debut in the first part, has acquired a more polished appearance since. Three of the four actresses who played his wives have all but vanished. The question asked by Sharma’s character, “What happened to me... was it a tragedy or a comedy,” remains unanswered.
A lot else has changed in the interim decade, which gives this otherwise silly comedy an edge – increased sensitivity over religious matters, reduced tolerance for injustice against women, and the violence unleashed by inter-faith marriages.
Bhopal restauranteur Mohan (Kapil Sharma) is in love with a Muslim woman, Saniya (Hira Warina), but their attempts to marry are thwarted by their fathers. They could have eloped to another city, since they are way over 18 and money is not in short supply, but who can question the logic of a film like this?
A desperate Mohan tells Saniya’s father (Vipin Sharma) that he will convert to Islam. Unaware of this, Saniya runs away, leaving a cousin, Roohi (Ayesha Khan) in her place, whom Mohan ends up marrying.
Mohan’s father (Akhilendra Mishra) tricks him into wedding Meera (Tridha Choudhury). Mohan also mistakenly marries a Catholic, Jenny (Parul Gulati). Mohan’s Sikh friend Habbi (Manjot Singh) runs into trouble too. Two activists from a ‘Majnu Bhagao, Ladki Bachao’ group (Jamie Lever and Trupti Khamkar) are on the prowl, and mistake Habbi for a bigamist.
Mohan has to juggle three wives, two sets of baffled parents and Jenny’s cop brother David (Sushant Singh). A fourth marriage is on the cards, between Mohan and a now amnesiac Saniya, who has been adopted by a Sikh family.
Bigamy laws don’t even come into the picture. Two of the women have careers, but don’t suspect anything when their husband rushes about behaving suspiciously, doesn’t share a whole day or night with them, and is always accompanied by his friend.
Perhaps without meaning to, Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon 2 sends up wokeness. The lying-cheating Mohan is extolled as a saviour of the women.
The comic pace is maintained, and Mohan’s constant deception does get to him. The actors, particularly Kapil Sharma, Manjot Singh and Vipin Sharma, have superb comic timing. Some of the lines have a rapid-fire, spontaneous feel to them.
Unfortunately, the film is dated and ludicrous. There is a modicum of satire, like a spark in the gloom. Mohan declares that as an Indian, he accepts all religions, only to be asked, “Do you think you are the Constitution?”
