A tribute to the lifestyles of the Nawabs of Awadh

edh Ishqiya, directed and co-written by Abhishek Chaubey, is the much-awaited sequel to Ishqiya —the 2010 Hindi feature film which had introduced us to two of the most delightful caricatures penned down in recent times, as far as Hindi cinema is concerned, that of the criminal vagabonds, Ifthekhar alias “Khalujan” (played by Naseeruddin Shah) and Razzaakh Hussain alias “Babban” (played by Arshad Warsi). What really makes the uncle-nephew duo tick is the camaraderie they share. Both Khalujan and Babban come across as shrewd and deceitful campaigners when it comes to their day-to-day shady affairs and that’s what keeps the two of them alive, but when pitted against beautiful women they are at their most vulnerable as their chivalry and quixotic mannerisms tend to get the better of them, invariably trapping them in bizarre situations and exposing them to grave danger.

Naseeruddin Shah as "Khalujaan" and Madhuri Dixit as "Begum Para"

In Dedh Ishqiya the scenario more or less remains the same, if only a wee bit more complex than it had been during their last escapade. Khalujan and Babban continue to go about their usual business while somehow managing to stay out of the clutches of their evil boss Mushtaq (delightfully played by Pakistani actor

Salman Shahid... there is a brilliant scene in which his character cheekily compares his relation with the uncle-nephew duo to the delicate relationship that the Batman and Joker share)

despite all his efforts to bury the duo alive. Khalujan and Babban are forced to part ways when a con job goes awry. Babban’s lust takes him to a brothel where he unexpectedly comes to learn about Khalujan’s whereabouts. To his dismay, Khalujan, now disguised as the Nawab of Chandpur, is all set to participate in the annual poetry competition organized by Begum Para (played by Madhuri Dixit), the beautiful widow of Nawab of Mahmudabad, in the hope of wooing her. When Babban arrives on the scene and finally confronts Khalujan, he gets infatuated with Begum Para’s sexy aide and confidant Munniya (played by Huma Qureshi). But, the path of love has never been an easy one to tread. And, once again, Khalujan and Babban must learn it the hard way.