Just caught this movie on TV late last night. Despite not having seen the first Hyderabad Blues, I have to say that the film gave me a new vision of the social lives of contemporary middle-class Indians. The plot was quite tedious - focusing on one guy's indiscretions with a work colleague and his fiancée's subsequent soul searching over whether to take him back - and the characters were mostly a bunch of macho, unsympathetic yuppies, but the acting was on the whole quite natural, and the film didn't glamourise the petty events of these people's lives. It surprised me to see an Indian movie, made for Indian audiences, presented in a realistic way. Maybe this isn't such an odd thing for an Indian viewer, but for someone whose main exposure has been to subtitled Bollywood musicals or sanitised Westernised productions (think 'Monsoon Wedding'), it was quite novel to hear such casual swearing and vulgar talk from both men and women.

A movie with a reasonable presumption and a decent attempt at the conflicting demands of an Indian society on a married couple. The story roles out on Kukunoor's reluctance to grow his family tree and Ashwini's desire to do so. A major part of the movie, though has nothing to do with this subtext. It is the affair of a few minutes of Kukunoor with one of his employees. Ashwini the strong independent Indian woman that she is, she also tends to view the affair a man's indulgence granted by a patriarchal society. She refuses to forgive Kukunoor, who is genuinely sorry for his lapse, and the story goes on and on with Kukunoor's attempt to win her back.

The movie goes at an easy pace. Though, it is a little stretched out in the middle. The pairing of Ashwini with her friend and her friend's husband with Kukunoor adds its enjoyable moments/conversations. The movie appeals to the people of the current generation in similar age/situation.

It is a definitely enjoyable. Go Watch it!

****CONTAINS SOME MINOR SPOILERS****

Many things are enjoyable: A lot of neat little incidents: The guy and his father at the marriage broker place going: 'We are particular about the caste. It is okay if it is not the same sub-caste. you see we are ...' and the son adds 'liberal'. That was hilarious and deep.

The opening scene with the loud speaker singing 'Ma Shakthi Om Shakthi' song in front of his house on a Sunday morning.

All the conversations between Kukunoor and his friend.

... but this film does let you down like most "sequels" do... I came out wishing the makers of the film had not bothered at all with this!!

What made the former special was it's originality, spontaneity and raw energy that appealed to almost everyone - mostly Indian techies like me in the US who could relate to lots of it! The sequel on the other hand just prods on, quite aimlessly for the most part, and never really builds the pace to keep your engrossed or care for the characters on screen!

However, there are moments that are genuinely funny - mostly involving Nagesh's government employed buddy Sanjeev and his wife Seema - I am surprised I have not seen these 2 in more mainstream movies. Production quality though is below average and so is the acting; with Nagesh's success with more superior work like "Teen Deewarein", I was surprised with the "home movie" feel this film had.

That said, the few good moments don't really hold the movie together or make it nearly as charming as the former. I surely would not have missed anything if I had decided to skip this one entirely :-)