PremiumKoffee With Karan Season 8 Episode 5 review - Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra take the fun a notch higher, but it is still a PG edition
Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, who feature in the latest episode of KWK Season 8, speak about marriage and unmask real friendships in Bollywood.
Last Updated: 01.45 PM, Nov 23, 2023
Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, two of Karan Johar's "ex-students" (read: Student of the Year), get back together to bring the house down with their energy, friendship, and personal experiences before they battle it out in a spectacular round against time.
If anyone would bring the house down in this current episode of Koffee With Karan Season 8, one would assume it would be Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. The moment the episode began, it looked like it was going to be one filled with firecrackers. And I must say it's one of the better episodes to come out this season. Especially the way Varun started, saying that he wants their marriages to stay intact. The actor was stressing over it so much that Karan even had to say that he had no interest in destroying marriages.
Even when the director brings up the Kiara Advani-starring segment from Lust Stories, Varun reminds him that she is Sidharth's wife. The Shershaah actor responds, stating that he was not offended. Then, KJo has Sidharth repeat his "new tone," and I'm still unsure of what it is. Never mind, even the entertainment value is on the surface this season. Throughout the episode, I kept on laughing at the gestures by the actors and them calling out Johar, and rightly so! However, did I find it entertaining? Will I watch this episode again, like I did in the previous seasons? It's a hard no, at least for now. Things change, and moods change.
The highlight of the episode is when Karan bluntly questions why Sidharth and Varun are not friends, and their honest explanation sheds light on the dynamics of friendships in the film industry. It reminded me of the time Karan burst Deepika Padukone's bubble when she claimed that Anushka Sharma was her friend and he said that she was not. Ah, I miss those times!
A new game called 'Rat Race' follows, in which Varun and Sidharth are asked to list three things that come to mind about a topic given by Karan. Well, the most entertaining part of the game was when Varun mentioned "boating" when talking about things he does with his wife. I did laugh along with them for 10 seconds at that one. And come on, while trying to be politically correct, Karan failed to get the word "sex" from both of them, and the filmmaker himself had to say he likes to bite ears as part of seduction. They constantly used words like "PG" and used food and aroma to speak about seduction. The excessive explanation kills humour, if any, while the caution diminishes the enjoyment quotient.
This careful attitude stays as they avoid name-dropping and speaking about actors and producers not being friends. Even when someone mentions a name, they pronounce it incorrectly. Guneet Monga would have had a bout of hiccups, considering her name was mentioned about 4–5 times in an attempt to pronounce it correctly. Varun said Mongia and not Monga the first time, and it turned out to be yet another hilarious moment.
Well, VD was in his usual element of roasting Karan and just going off-tangent the entire time. On the other hand, Sidharth was a revelation, as he was more candid and spunky than during his previous appearances on the show. Now that he is married and his personal life is public, he no longer guards himself. It was a delight to see that there was no shield put up during the entire conversation.
However, even if Karan is not cupid, he does behave like he is in a "kitty party" (he mentioned it) and only speaks about past relationships, marital life, and the art of seduction; that's it. These actors have been a part of the film industry for over a decade, and yet their careers are too insignificant to be discussed.
Alia Bhatt's virtual appearance in the beginning was a negligible glitch when VD mentioned that she was again going to be the topic of discussion. However, it was a sweet appearance to kick off the episode, only to ignite it and not blow it up completely.
The past two seasons of Koffee With Karan have maintained a focus on political correctness, and now that it has been acknowledged, we can anticipate that this will continue in the upcoming episodes.
There's lively chemistry and entertainment between Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, which makes this one of the better episodes this season. Their camaraderie and humour shine through, but the way they opt to be PG kills the charm. Nonetheless, the episode certainly has entertaining moments.