Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai Movie Review: Varun Dhawan’s Comedy Is Loud Reminder Of Everything Wrong With Bollywood Masala Entertainers

The old Varun Dhawan is back, and we don’t mean that in a good way. Loud, chaotic and relentlessly over-the-top,   feels like a throwback to a brand of comedy that Bollywood should have left behind. If Judwaa 2, also directed by David Dhawan, was your idea of comedy, HJTIHH treads a very similar path, relying on loud chaos, misunderstandings and over-the-top antics. But in 2026, does the formula of one hero and two women still hold up? Also starring Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde, Jimmy Shergill, Mouni Roy, Rakesh Bedi, Chunky Pandey and others, the film certainly seems to believe so. Packed with madness and melodrama, it desperately chases laughs but rarely succeeds in delivering them.

Remember Bad Newz? The Vicky Kaushal and Triptii Dimri starrer revolved around two potential fathers and one woman. Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai takes that idea and turns it inside out. This time, one man finds himself caught between two women who are both carrying his child.

Jas (Varun Dhawan) is happily married to Bani, whom he marries on someone else’s mandap while drunk. Five years into their marriage, trouble brews when Jas decides he’s ready for fatherhood. Bani, however, has other plans. As the CEO of a successful company, she wants to focus on her career rather than raise a child. Instead of exploring this conflict with nuance, the film positions Bani as the unreasonable one, making her ambition seem like a flaw rather than a logical and valid life choice.

Fast forward two months (yes, 60 days) after their separation, Jas is now in the UK, trolling firangs, cracking lame jokes and embodying every dated NRI stereotype imaginable. During a game of truth or dare, Preet (Pooja Hegde) kisses him and, just like that, he falls for her. For someone who was devastated by his divorce, Jas seems to recover surprisingly quickly.

Just when life appears to be back on track, Bani returns with a surprise… she is pregnant with Jas’ child. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, he soon learns that Preet is expecting too. When faced with a situation that demands honesty and maturity, what does Jas do? He opts for lies, deception and elaborate cover-ups. The film then launches into a whirlwind of misunderstandings and madness, hoping chaos alone will generate laughs. Unfortunately, the confusion keeps escalating but the comedy doesn’t.

After being mercilessly trolled for his expressions in Border 2, Varun slips back into his familiar comic mode. He is loud, bizarre and often brainless, with actions that defy logic and dialogues that barely make sense. A genre he’s long been associated with, Varun once again proves he can carry chaotic comedies. But here, he’s overdoing it more than ever.

Mrunal, who has impressed with Sita Ramam and Love Sonia, is given very little to work with. As Bani, she is repeatedly framed as the problem for being an independent, opinionated woman choosing her career over motherhood. Her character arc feels as insignificant as the film’s originality in its songs. Yet, she manages to do justice to what the script demands.

Pooja Hegde’s Preet is equally underwritten. She is presented as a carefree, party-loving girl with a strict bhaiyaa (Jimmy Shergill), but her decisions often strain believability. She comes across as frustratingly naive, especially given the escalating chaos around her. We’ve all been in love and ignored a few red flags here and there, but how can someone be as gullible as Preet, you wonder while watching her. And then, it hits you… This is a typical Bollywood setup and expecting logic from the heroine is often a futile exercise.

Coming to the ensemble cast, Maniesh Paul plays the best friend but instead of providing comic relief, he often comes across as more annoying than amusing. Jimmy Shergill and Mouni Roy’s dynamic, however, stands out as perhaps the only genuinely funny element in the film. Rakesh Bedi and Chunky Pandey do what they are known for, but even their experience is let down by a weak and underwritten script.

Bollywood’s “King of Comedy” and “Director No 1” David Dhawan bids farewell to filmmaking with Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, marking the end of a career spanning over four decades. Known for delivering some of Hindi cinema’s most iconic masala entertainers, Dhawan once again leans into his signature style of loud, over-the-top comedy. His son Varun Dhawan and veteran comic actors Chunky Pandey, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, and Rakesh Bedi come together in an attempt to bring energy and entertainment to his final outing.

While the film fits comfortably within his trademark universe of chaos and slapstick humour, its themes and execution feel increasingly dated in a 2026 context. The intention is clearly to entertain and evoke nostalgia for his classic comic style, but the result feels exhausting rather than engaging.

As a swan song, it struggles to land the emotional or cinematic impact one might expect. In today’s world, where conversations around relationships and family structures have evolved significantly, the film’s outdated treatment of its premise makes it harder to connect with.

In recent times, only a few Hindi films and shows have managed to make audiences laugh or deliver the kind of entertainment they expect today, and sadly, HJTHH is not among them. Yes, metaverse-style jokes are not easy to pull off, but they also shouldn’t feel this painful to sit through. Slapstick comedy can still work, but only when it is well-written. Otherwise, even high-energy brainrot humour fails to connect when packaged as a full-fledged entertainer.

Except for a few moments here and there, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai largely falls flat, coming across as unfunny, exhausting, and ultimately forgettable. It leaves you wondering why you even sat through it.