If there’s anyone that can pull off a mish-mash of previous Manmohan Desai flicks with a generous dose of Kishen Kanhaiya (note showing my age here), it’s Varun Dhawan, who’s back post one of the few successful films this year (Badrinath Ki Dulhania), in a sequel to the 1997 bonafide hit Judwaa, which featured Salman Khan in a dual avatar.

You’d expect some originality, but unfortunately there’s none of it evident here, which looks fun but, chooses to rehash the formula of twins separated at birth, leading to a series of hilarious situations (to its credit there are a few in the trailer), until the inevitable finale which will see the two brothers re-unite against a hammy villain in some ridiculous set-up.

Nadiadwala hasn’t even bothered to change the soundtrack, most of the songs are the same, perhaps a little upbeat in tempo, which then begs the question that besides the cast, what exactly is different here?

Well for one, it has bankable Varun, who seems to be in his element, and his comic timing is spot on, so the film will effectively bank on his star power to see it through at box office, which isn’t a bad thing mind, given the series of unmitigated disasters the industry has witnessed of late. Giving him company are the obligatory bimbos (Jacqueline Fernandez who has yet to do anything worthwhile in the eight years she’s spent in the industry) and a more credible Taapsee Pannu, who goes from one of last year’s best films (Pink), to sheer fluff. Whether the transition proves futile or worthwhile is yet to be seen, but given that David Dhawan gives his heroines very little to do, in this case it seems very unlikely.

Regardless of my cynicism though, Varun looks he’s brought his usual bankable energy and enthusiasm here, and it will be for him alone that I may queue up to get a ticket. As an aside, this looks like it’s more a remake and less a sequel, as literally all of the elements of the first (including the settings and situations, notably the one of him jumping out of the bath) seem to have been recycled here.

Judwaa 2 also features Anupam Kher and hits the marquee 29 September 2017.

Are you looking forward to a double dose of Varun?