It Happens That Way Too: Part II (2003) User Reviews

Ironic Look at the Mumbai Underworld

[moviestar26 · 8/10 · 4 October 2009]

I saw this movie 2 months after it released in 2003 and brings back many good memories of that time. A different take on life in the mumbai underworld through the view of an outsider that is played by Arshad Warsi. This film helped him to come back in to the limelight before Munnabhai mbbs released. Here he plays a copywriter for a ad agency who ends up in a situation to help a gangster, played by prashant who is wounded by bullets on a side road. He donates some blood and from here begins the start of a friendship. Both begin to learn about each others professions from a humorous point of view. Meanwhile that gangster's boss has a feud with with a rival woman gangster. Later on its found out that arshad's brother was a police informer and that is why he was killed by prashant much earlier before this. Prashant is told to kill prashant but is unable to. What happens in the remainder of the movie is to be watched.

Sandhya Mridul also stars in this movie as arshads cop girlfriend. This was her second role after the movie 'saathiya'. She is a good actress. I don't know why we don't see much of her. Prashant Narayanan is a revelation. He played the role of a goon so realistically. He even had the dark skin to match.

Shashanka Ghosh is a good director. I don't know where he has disappeared off too.

If you know what true Indian cinema is about and appreciate good movies even on gangsters lives, this is a movie that I strongly recommend. If anyone has watched it let me know what you thought

Pulp Fiction in Mumbai?

[HeadleyLamarr · 8/10 · 7 May 2007]

Punit (Arshad Warsi) is a copywriter for an ad agency in Mumbai, has a falling out with his cop girlfriend Agni (Sandhya Mridul), ends up sleeping on the street and saves the life of an underworld bad guy Vishnu (Prashant Narayanan). A strange friendship develops between Punit and Vishnu that is hard for Vishnu's boss Ganpat and his arch nemesis Gangu-Tai to comprehend. A band of drinking Sikhs, Mahima Chaudhary (as herself), a newspaper reading trio, and several singers all play a part in the story, although some merely to confuse the deliberately zig zag narrative. Punit wants to get out of Mumbai and retire to Nainital. His dream becomes real in a most unusual way! The movie has excellent performances by Arshad and Prashant, the female Don is hilarious, Sandhya Mridul is good, the usual gang of goons do their job well, but for me the show stealers are the paggad wearing boys who shake it up in a night club! I wanted to get up and dance with them. The story is inspired by many a Tarantino, Coen Brothers film and happily gives them due credit!

The music is excellent and gave rise to two great singing careers, Kailash Kher and Rabbi Shergill. The songs are lovely but I love that My name is .. Bhangra number, wacky and toe tapping good. The film is unusual, sustains interest throughout and is worth a watch.

Underrated film

[silvan-desouza · 7/10 · 29 August 2012]

When WBHH Part 2 released in 2003, Hindi Cinema was slowly entering the experimental phase but yet most weren't successes. WBHH came at a time when Arshad Warsi was forgotten by bwood after classic nonsense films like Mujhe Mere Biwi se Bachao(2001) and an appearance in Jaani Dushman(2002), Prashant Narayanan was a newcomer who received rave reviews in CHHAL(2003). The director wasn't well known all this affected it's BO but yet the film is superb and received great acclaim When you hear the name Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part 2 it sends confusing signals as to whether it's a sequel of another film but it isn't. In fact the film is divided into 3 parts within the film itself, Part 1 which lass for few mins, Part 2 which is the main story and the ending is Part 3 a novel idea no doubt.All three parts are connected The film does take some time to understand as it's a novel concept, The relationship between Prashant and Arshad is the best part, the entire gangster track is treated differently and is a treat to watch The film is a dark comedy which is treated superbly The film keeps you on the tenterhooks throughout almost, The Arshad - Sandhya track though could be given more importance and also some scenes do tend to look a bit unbelievable like Pratima Kazmi's arrest and also the end of Anant Jog's track could be better Some songs also throw a spanner like My Name is Punjabi The climax is superb and stands out

Direction by Shashank Ghosh is superb Music by Vishal-Shekhar,Shibani Kashyap,Saibal Basu,Abhinav Dhar is superb The best track is Allah Ke Bandey and Sajna both songs became very famous and the former made Kailash Kher a huge celebrity

Arshad Warsi does a superb job, playing a role which was very unique for him that time, he had played a buffoon in several films and received fair praise but his career was at the rock bottom due to bad choices, here he showed that he indeed had potential. Just a month later he got noticed much more in Munnabhai Mbbs Prashant Narayanan a superb talent after CHHAL yet again proved his supremacy and it's great that this underrated actor got a chance to shine, he handles his role brilliantly Pratima Kazmi is outstanding in her role Sandhya Mridul is fair in a smaller role, Anant Jog is good Suchitra Pillai,Manini De are both superb in their roles Ranveer Shorey and Shruti Seth are OK

Bollywood is evolving

[AvinashPatalay · 9 March 2005]

Bollywood is witnessing a transformation, maybe slow but yes its there. At least we have the new kids on the block who are seriously attempting to defy the Bollywood standard formula. And thanks to the media and internet such movies are being watched and appreciated.

Not getting much into the storyline, the movie shows from two perspectives. One from the underworld (Prashant Narayan) and the other from advertising agency executive (Arshad Warsi).

Arshad Warsi was good trying to balance his character of various shades.

Prashant Narayan - I noticed him in Chhal and surely he is the one to lookout for. He is Naseer and Om Puri rolled into one.

Sandhya Mridul was obviously trying to shrug off her goody-goody image from the TV serials and Saathiya. Sadly she couldn't carry the character of police officer too well. Even the character's name Agni was a bit too heavy for her personality.

Suchitra Pillai as Shalu was good. Perhaps Sandhya and Suchitra could have swapped their roles for effectiveness.

If the role of Gangutai could have been changed to a male don and performed by a seasoned actor like Sayaji Shinde, it would have carried a greater impact. It was a bit hard to digest a female Mumbai don, otherwise Pratima Kazmi's performance was first-rate.

Mahima Chaudhry's track in a special appearance as herself is interlaced well into the story.

Songs are quite noticeable. Noteworthy to mention are Allah Ke Bande (by Kailash Kher) and Sajna (by Shibani). To be frank, it was the former song which compelled me to watch the movie.

As the credits rolls we see a special word of thanks to Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Ram Gopal Varma - our director Shashanka Ghosh's obvious inspiration for abstract direction styles.

The humour keeps the pace of the movie going. Actually its dark comedy - if you happen to enjoy QT movies then you will definitely like it and feel pleased that Bollywood is evolving.

This movie could be a good pedestal for the director and we sincerely hope that is roped into one of biggie production houses. Roll on Shashank - we are waiting.

under-appreciated gem, Prashant Narayan is a future STAR

[hellisotherpeople · 8/10 · 11 July 2004]

So this was the movie Kaizaad Gustad was trying to make.. !

This is Shashanka Ghosh's homage to Tarantino and the coen bro's and what a well made tribute it is..

excellently crafted screenplay, extremely well directed.., top notch acting..Prashant Narayan is a STAR!! what an intensely charismatic performance as the conflicted gangsta .. Watch out for this guy, he's going places!Pratima Kazmi as Gangu Bai was another stellar piece of acting.. The characters were overall very interesting and the writing clever...

If you like something " zara hatke" this movies for you!!

Bravo Shashank...

Prashant Narayanan is first rate...awesome movie

[gkhadse · 8/10 · 13 January 2005]

One of the very few movies which try something different....has a Ram Gopal Verma flavor to it.. and the characters are first rate... Although based on the underworld theme the movie never goes grim. The story is engrossing and keeps a good pace...the songs are perfect for the kind of story line although the song in the second half with Maria in it could have been avoided. Prashant Narayanan is a great actor and I don't understand why he is not getting roles in movies...Great potential.... Sandhya Mridul is OK...but her looks don't go with the character she plays.... Arshad Warsi is good and Prashant Narayanan steals the show...Kazmi is great too.... Awesome movie.. Great going Shashank......

Suppperb script supported by some great acting and good music

[vipinget3 · 8/10 · 25 October 2005]

Arshad Warsi is at his comic best (once again after Munna Bhai) in the film. He refreshes the movie with his presence and brings subtle humor to scenes which could have turned quite cliché otherwise.. the ones I like best are the ones where he learns how to shoot and the other one in which he is made to sit next to Gangubai - his little squeak just throws the seriousness outta the sequence in a split second.

Equally intense in his performance is Prashant Narayan as Vishnu- the gangster with the simple, no-hassle attitude to life. The sorta chemistry between him and Arshad is somewhat reminiscent of the one we have seen in Satya movie between Bhiku and Satya. The friendship is like a Innocent, benign relationship budding amidst the morass of material conflicts, gang wars and pillage.

The director has done a great job at dealing with different issues in a lighthearted yet non-trivializing manner. At one end of the spectrum is the gory scenes with people mindlessly shooting one other, and yet there are moments which let you wander in the mushy,idealistic world of romance, friendships, ideals and all.

Music is another great add on to his movie.. Personal favs - Allah ke bande, Jism and Sajna.

Summary- Great movie. Shud have received much more attention.

fantastic!~

[ivahhc · 10/10 · 28 May 2004]

This is the funniest, slickest Hindi movie I've seen. It is what I hope Bollywood is changing to. This film gives me hope for Indian movies in the international scene. The dialogue, the acting, the plot, and the asides were all meticulously crafted. I haven't been this more thoroughly and cerebrally amused by a movie, let alone a Hindi movie, in a while! Yes, some of it was predictable, but what movie doesn't borrow from predecessors (Or Tarantino?)? I particularly liked the voiced-over thoughts for Puneet (Arshad Warsi) and Agni (Sandhya Mridul). Gangubai (Pratima Kazmi) was a hoot; Mahima's cameo fantastic. And the music -- what a refreshing change. Besides the My Name is ... song, everything else is beautifully fitting. A side note: it's unusual to find a short-haired heroine in a Hindi film and that, too, was striking.

A Not Normal but Immensely Entertaining Urban Film

[Chrysanthepop · 10 December 2007]

'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II' is one of the funniest dark comedies to come out of India in recent time. It's part spoofy, part pulp fiction, part bloodbath and part comically bizarre. It opens hilariously with the following line: "this is a mindless work of fiction, the characters happen to be fictional despite our sincere efforts. the locations however are real. the story has been plagiarised from several films". Then it is followed by an amusing item number that features Ganesh Acharya, some boys and girls and a piglet.

Though I must say that 'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II' is not a rip-off and it's clearly a work of inspiration. I also appreciated that the maker acknowledged their source of inspiration (something hardly any Hindi-film director does) that includes names like Kitano, Tarantino, Gopal Verma, Coen Brothers etc.

We are introduced to several funny characters: the protagonist who is ironically a copywriter (Arshad Warsi), his no-nonsense copper wife (Sandhya Mridul), his gangster friend (Prashant), his 'Maa' (Pratima Kazmi, The Bazpur Boys and many others. Then there are numerous appearances by celebrities like Ranvir Shorey, Shibani Kashyap, Kailesh Kher and Mahima Chaudhry, most of them who play themselves (in a spoofy way). Arshad Warsi's wife Maria Goretti Warsi also performs sensually in an item number.

The ensemble cast is impressively created as all the actors fit their parts like a glove. Arshad Warsi rocks! It's not an out and out comic role (the kind he's more known for) as the character does have multiple layers and the actor does an outstanding job. Sandhya Mridul is getting more versatile with each film and here as the tough cop but the vulnerable wife/girlfriend, she too holds her own. However, her character could have been a little further developed. Pratima Kazmi is back again in her not-to-be-messed-with kingpin (or queenpin) role, a part the audience certainly doesn't tire of watching her in and this time there's a touch of comedy which she effectively pulls off.

Vishal Shekhar's soundtrack is overall very appealing to people who have eclectic taste in music (like me). It features singers whom we rarely get to hear in movies like Kailash Kher, Shibani Kashyap, Rabbi Shergill etc. Many of them feature in the background while a few are well put in the foreground of the story. My favorite songs are Kher's 'Allah Ke Bande' and Kashyap's 'Sajna Aa Bhi Jaa'.

This is director and writer Shashanka Ghosh's achievement. She wonderfully brings it all together. As the tagline suggests: a not normal-urban film, it is indeed very 'not normal' but hugely entertaining, providing us many laugh out loud moments that might keep you laughing even after the end credits have rolled. :)

A rare Dark Comedy from Bollywood (Hindi)

[Badman5 · 18 March 2004]

An unconventional and surreal 'reaction to Bollywood' as the film calls itself, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai is an unconventionally comedic and serious movie with the main character who is a Ad writer in Bombay, with a cop girlfriend and a gangster best friend. The plot is decent, and so is the acting. The dialogues are quite amusing in a subtle and intelligent way, so rare for any bollywood flick. I expected to see an independent-style gangster production with profanity and more-than-needed violence, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise. Could have been better, but a good rent if you're sick of the the regular overdramatic/romantic/too serious crap that comes out.