When in form, the infectious, chaotic energy of David Dhawan’s cinema can make even the most cynical critic melt. After a lull at the box office, the sultan of slapstick invokes a title from his inventory of playful songs and recreates the vibe of a period in Hindi cinema where logic politely steps aside to make way for a relentless cascade of laugh-out-loud misunderstandings.
Dressed in a slick, contemporary cover, he partners with writers Yunus Sajawal and Farhad Samji to generate rapid-fire, rhyming situational humour that once defined the Govinda-Dhawan tempo. In his son Varun Dhawan, he has a performer who can deliver Govinda’s frantic spirit and channel the charm of a lovable rascal.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai (Hindi)
Director: David Dhawan
Duration: 136 minutes
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, Jimmy Shergill, Maneish Paul, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Rakesh Bedi
Synopsis: When his ambitious, estranged wife and a glamorous new flame both unexpectedly announce their pregnancies on the same day, young photographer Jass Ahuja spins a web of lies.
While relationship dynamics change with time, the sight of a breathless, sweating hero fabricating a web of escalating lies is a formula that hasn’t fossilised at the box office. The narrative pivots around wedding photographer Jass (Varun), whose five-year marriage to the career-driven Bani (Mrunal Thakur) implodes over a fundamental clash in priorities. His burning desire to start a family is thwarted by her professional focus. Seeking a fresh start, Jass travels to London and quickly falls into a whirlwind romance with the gorgeous Preet (Pooja Hegde), who has an archetypal, intimidating Punjabi brother, Randhawa (Jimmy Shergill). The comedic trap snaps tight when expected secrets unravel, culminating in an outrageous, classic Dhawan twist: Jass discovers that both his estranged wife and his new girlfriend are pregnant at the exact same time.
A still from the film
| Photo Credit:
Tips Films
Old timers would remember that David has built many a tall tale on the plot of a man caught in the chaotic crossfire of two concurrent relationships. Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Gharwali Baharwali (1998), Biwi No.1 (1999), and Do Knot Disturb (2009) were pulled through a similar narrative engine, where he treats bigamy not as a moral failing but as a playground for slapstick.
Here, he attemptsto create a bridge between two distinct eras of his own filmography, using his trademark style, in which lines are engineered to fit together like puzzle pieces, creating an artificial, overlapping dialogue flow that sounds like a breathless, real-time argument. David’s editing background continues to dictate his directorial style. He cuts scenes on the exact beat of a punchline or a physical reaction, never allowing a joke to breathe or linger.
While the writers infuse the lives of career-oriented millennials with sexual urges, baby issues, and biological accidents, the musical identity of the comedy is designed to function as a time machine, signaling to the audience exactly which unadulterated, old-school cinematic universe they are stepping into.
The film discards the idea that a man must choose between a traditional woman and a modern one. Here, Bani and Preet are not reduced to a visual stereotype. In fact, they seem to go to the same designer! But unlike their ancestors, instead of going on a guilt trip, they take on Jass in whatever little time and space the farce allows them to exercise reason. Mrunal is more at ease in the emotional interplay, while Pooja treats the screen as a fashion runway. Beyond the central trio, the narrative is populated by seasoned character actors such as Chunky Panday, Rakesh Bedi, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, and Maniesh Paul, who ground the madness with their comic flair.
A still from the film
| Photo Credit:
Tips Films
As expected, the film suffers from a bloated middle portion. The double-pregnancy storyline stretches thin, the pacing stalls, and Farhad Samji’s pun-heavy dialogues overstay on the cliches. The final act, where another cliché – Mouni Roy lands as the mothership – rescues the experience as Dhawan systematically re-energises the theatre through the good old buffoonery that makes us submit to the rhythm of the ridiculous.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is currently running in theatres.
Published – June 05, 2026 01:15 pm IST
