After the dull opening of Kajol and Twinkle Khanna’s chat show Two Much, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt stirred things up quite a bit in the second episode. Varun and Alia began their acting careers together in 2012’s Student of the Year and have since appeared in 3 movies together, as well as in interviews and other chat shows.

There’s an easy, chill chemistry between the two of them that never gets old, where they call each other out on little lies and reveal harmless secrets from set. It makes the second episode so much more entertaining and enjoyable, like a little reunion between two friends who have finally found the time to clear their schedules and catch up with each other. They won’t do a film together, but at least we get them on a chat show!

Alia and Varun’s reunion

Varun even admits that he has not met Alia in so long that he does not want to discuss any of her bad habits on set. Even with this disclaimer, the constant bickering on the show continued unabated. Yet, there was also a shift in the way they addressed each other and talked about themselves. This shift is certainly due to the fact that they are now parents to baby daughters. Varun reveals that witnessing the birth of his baby has brought about a profound change in him, and Alia adds that they were just discussing this before the show began. It is a sweet moment, suggesting how this friendship has evolved over the years. These two are not the same students who had debuted in the Karan Johar film; they are so much more than that.

They are no longer the restless, constantly talking over one another type anymore- when Alia speaks, Varun is keenly all ears. And when Varun recounts an awkward family situation during his marriage, Alia is the one who pats him back. “I am crying, that’s a hilarious story,” she adds. Her unabashed laughter still remains the same. The best parts of the episode are when both Alia and Varun discuss their kids, and how much of their everyday decisions revolve around them. Alia asks the two hosts if the guilt of going to work and leaving their children at home ever goes away, and they say it never does.

What doesn’t work

That being said, the second episode lacks rhythm, and the introductory food-gazing table section really needs to go away. Alia does not need to eat a French fry to prove she can eat one. It’s awkward. The hosts did not really get to talk here, as Varun and Alia were the ones who carried the conversation forward, often jumping from one incident to another. There were many instances when Alia and Varun asked questions back, and Twinkle took a backseat to let Kajol respond to them. Alia also let it out from the beginning that she is definitely not having that cold drink filled with onions and eggs, which was part of another section where the two stars had to guess film trivia questions correctly. It would have been so much more fun had Alia and Varun asked each other questions instead.

Two episodes down, Two Much does not really feel too much. There is no overload of sorts with the questions and back-and-forth sections in the show, while Kajol and Twinkle are often passive listeners, and in some cases, are merely seen laughing at the jokes rather than taking the conversation ahead. It is a cut-and-action framing, where the conversation is broken down to fit the format; there is no real, organic flow to it. I wonder if the irony lies in my expecting too much from a show that is named Two Much.