Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba Ending, Explained: Are Rani and Rishu Dead?

‘Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba,’ the sequel to its knife-edged predecessor, ‘Haseen Dillruba,’ brings another thorny obstacle for the central pair of impassioned lovers. After the events of the last film, Rani and Rishu move to Agra, where they lay low while preparing to flee the country once and for all. Nonetheless, before the couple can escape, the law arrives at Rani’s doorsteps again, this time in the form of Mrityunjay, a.k.a. Neel’s Montu Chacha, a relentless police officer who’s dedicated to proving Rani and Rishu’s involvement in his nephew’s death. Consequently, as the walls begin to close in, Rani seeks help from an unlikely source, Abhimanyu, the kind-hearted compounder who is head over heels in love with her.

Rani and Rishu’s second attempt to throw off the cops remains just as complex and hazardous this time around, weaving familiarly perplexing plot twists into their narratives. Furthermore, the new addition of Abhimanyu into the fiery lovers’ dynamic introduces its own complications. As a result, their tale’s climax is bound to leave the fans in tangles. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba Plot Synopsis

Even though Rani and Rishu were able to escape Officer Kishore’s scrutiny after Neel’s murder, they’re unable to be with each other uninhibited for fear of the authorities discovering their ruse. As a result, they move to Agra, where the two live separately and only meet in secret, with plans to move to Thailand in the future. During this time, both find themselves laden with their respective admirers—Poonam, Rishu’s pushy landlady who just wants to sleep with him, and Abhimanyu, the local compounder in Rani’s neighborhood, half in love with the woman. Despite the strain their separation brings, the couple’s love and passion for each other continue thriving.

However, their momentary peace is broken after a petty thief’s attempt to steal Rani’s purse brings the return of police officer Kishore into her life. As a result, her communication with her husband halts entirely. Eventually, Kishore calls her in for questioning again, establishing that he believes Rani currently lives with Rishu in Agra. Worse yet, he isn’t the only cop on the couple’s rail. As it turns out, Neel had a close uncle in the police force, Montu, known in his department as The Woodpecker for his tenacity.

Montu is Kishore’s friend and believes the theory that Rani and Rishu covered up Neel’s murder. Consequently, as Montu opens the closed case up again, the cops begin circling Rani’s life. Moreover, they even catch the travel agent Rishu had employed, swiftly ending the couple’s escape plans. When the two meet again, Rishu insists he should simply turn himself in. Yet, Rani stubbornly comes up with a new plan to throw the cops off her scent. She knows that unattached existence is partly responsible for Montu’s suspicions. Therefore, she decides to marry Abhimanyu to make the cop believe Rishu is truly dead.

As such, Rani finally agrees to a date with Abhimanyu, where she tells him she’s too heartbroken over her husband’s death to fall in love. Still, she would be willing to marry him. Thus, despite Rishu’s objection to the plan, his wife goes through with it and marries Abhimanyu. The newlyweds begin a life together, and Abhimanyu respects Rani’s lack of feelings for him and is willing to wait for her to come around. Nonetheless, things become complicated when Rani catches her husband kissing Poonam. Even though Rishu wasn’t a willing participant in the kiss, it left his wife hallowed, leading her to get drunk and blabber the entire truth of the situation to Abhimanyu.

Although Rani expects Abhimanyu to be angry, he surprises her by demanding a meeting with Rishu the following day and offering to help the pair flee the country. He’s still holding out hope for the woman to fall for him and believes helping her find her happiness would be the way to do it. However, the couple soon realizes Abhimanyu isn’t as moral of a man as they thought him to be after the truth about his past comes out. As it turns out, he is also a Dinesh Pandit fanatic who used one of his books to orchestrate his extended family’s death after his uncle betrayed his father.

Therefore, once Rani realizes Abhimanyu’s crazy reality, she manages to escape his clutches and runs to the police. Naturally, she has to give in to Montu and reveal that Rishu is alive. However, while the cops begin the search for Rani’s two husbands, a new complication presents itself. He finds a burned car in the middle of nowhere, with two charred dead bodies on the scene—one with Abhimanyu’s ID on its person. Thus, Rani becomes the prime suspect in her husband’s murder yet again, with Montu as her cruel interrogator.

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba Ending: Who Died in the Car Fire? Is Abhimanyu Alive?

Abhimanyu occupied a reasonably trustworthy space in the narrative throughout his early introduction due to his besotted infatuation with Rani. Yet, as his past unravels further, a different truth emerges. The compounder shares that part of his fondness for the woman stemmed from seeing her at his clinic on one of his lowest days when he was contemplating suicide due to his abject loneliness. For the same reason, he professes that he’s willing to wait forever for her to come around and love him back. Nonetheless, once the reason behind Abhimanyu’s lonely disposition reveals itself, it adds a dangerous edge to his character.

Abhimanyu lost his parents when he was a young child and went on to live with his Uncle’s family. Nevertheless, at twenty, his extended family perished as well. Unbeknownst to others, the young compounder was actually responsible for these deaths. Abhimanyu’s uncle had betrayed his father in business, which infuriated the young boy to such an extent that he planned to assassinate the uncle and his family as revenge. Thus, another truth about the character establishes itself: Abhimanyu can’t tolerate betrayal.

Rishu learns about the same while he hides in Abhimanyu’s office, where a man named Lallan visits him. Lallan is the man who supplied the latter with the snake whose venom he used to incapacitate his family. Therefore, he has been blackmailing Abhimanyu all this time. Consequently, once Lallan reveals his reality to Rishu, Abhimanyu realizes it will only be a matter of time before his past returns to haunt him. As such, after Rani leaves his house, he stages a car accident to make it seem like he died. Nonetheless, in reality, the burned corpse found on the scene wasn’t Abhimanyu’s but rather Lallan’s—alongside Poonam, the only other person who could connect the latter’s presence at the clinic.

Ultimately, Abhimanyu faked his own death to buy himself some time, knowing the police were bound to look for him. Thus, in the aftermath, Montu decided to crack down on Rani, believing she would spill her secrets. In turn, she pointedly mentions that Rishu won’t take kindly to the abuse she faces in lock-up. For the same reason, the cop intentionally leaks the information to the media, eventually resulting in Rishu publicly declaring that he would surrender on the Railway Bridge if the cops let Rani go.

What Actually Happened at the Railway Bridge? Did Rishu Die?

Rishu’s choice to meet with the authorities at the Railway Bridge remains a puzzling decision from the start. The lake directly under the bridge is known to be infested with crocodiles, terminating it as a possible exit route. Furthermore, the bridge’s linear structure allowed the cops to easily surround the area on all sides, cutting off any other possibility of escape. As a result, after Montu agrees to Rishu’s surrender terms and the authorities show up at the Railway Bridge to release Rani, they are really planning to arrest the couple together. However, Abhimanyu foils their plans by confronting Rani and Rishu on the bridge to take revenge on the woman for betraying his trust.

In the end, the confrontation between the trio results in all three of them—Rani, Rishu, and Abhimanyu—falling down the bridge and into the crocodile-filled river. Yet, after Montu sends search parties for their bodies, they only retrieve Rishu’s prosthetic arm. With no other lead and the case proving to be a PR nightmare for the department, Montu has no choice but to close the case under his superiors’ pressure. Hence, all three of his suspects are officially announced dead. Inevitably, a different truth persists in actuality.

Soon after Abhimanyu offered to help Rani and Rishu, he realized that the only way to escape the authorities was to fake their deaths and ensure no one ever came after them. Consequently, he once again turned to one of Dinesh Pandit’s books to plot the perfect misdirect. Together, Abhimanyu and Rishu fed the river crocodiles bits of meat, luring them further and further away from the bridge. The consistent pattern tricked the animals into thinking they would receive a bigger reward the further they went away from the bridge. Thus, when the trio jumped from the bridge, the river was starkly free of any deadly animals.

Yet, one pesky crocodile ended up staying behind. As such, although Abhimanyu and Rani managed to swim to shore safely, Rishu got left behind. Even though Rani greatly mourned his loss, she had no choice but to flee Agra with Abhimanyu, and the duo moved to Himachal Pradesh. There, they started a new life, where Rani eventually moved on from Rishu’s death and started a family with Abhimanyu. Six years passed like so before Rani—who worked at a school as a teacher—received a cryptic message in the form of one of Dinesh Pandit’s quotes.

Thus, Rani realizes Rishu has actually been alive all along. As it had happened, Abhimanyu played one last card during their escape. Previously, he insisted that he wanted to win Rani’s heart fairly, even if it meant having to ensure she remained happy with another man. Still, while escaping through the river, Abhimanyu couldn’t pass up the opportunity to condemn Rishu to his death once it presented itself. For the same reason, he intentionally snatched his prosthetic arm away to slow down his swimming and fall victim to the preying crocodile. Yet, Rishu had managed to survive. Even though it took him six years, he tracked the duo down and revealed the entire truth to Rani.

Does Rani Comitt Suicide? Does She Reunite with Rishu?

After Rani learns the truth about Abhimanyu’s actions, she realizes she has been living a lie for the past six years of her life. Even though Rani’s despair over Rishu’s death had been real, she managed to move forward in her life with the other man by her side. Consequently, the truth about Abhimanyu’s orchestration of Rishu’s death as a ploy to win over Rani cut deep. As a result, she comes up with one last master plan to punish Abhimanyu and earn her own freedom.

Rani sent Dinesh Pandit’s book, “Magarmach ka Shikanja,” to Officer Montu. The novel details the truth about how the trio carried out the Railway Bridge plan all those years ago, alongside an address inviting him to witness the climax of their tale. She also sent the same address to Abhimanyu, resulting in a final confrontation at a cliffside. There, Rani reveals that she knows he killed Rishu without divulging that the latter is still alive. As such, after condemning her husband for betraying her trust and tricking her into staying with him, Rani tells him she won’t let him have his happy ending any longer.

With that, Rani jumps off the cliff and to the depths of the waters, presumably falling to her death as a way to punish Abhimanyu. The suicide, which unfolded in front of an entire police team, would confirm her death again. Nevertheless, the entire confrontation was another ruse, this time cooked up by Rani and Rishu. Since the fall was pre-meditated, she managed to survive and swam out to a bridge. As a procession passes through, she’s able to blend in with the crowd, where she reunites with Rishu. Ultimately, both lovers escape from the law again, allowing themselves the freedom to be with each other.

What Happens to Abhimanyu?

After Rani’s staged death at the Lovers Point cliffside, Abhimanyu is left alone with Officer Montu and his team. Since the confrontation blindsides him, he doesn’t have an exit strategy planned to ensure his escape. Likewise, the recent shock of Rani’s “death” renders him immobile enough that the cops manage to arrest him easily. With multiple on-record deaths under his belt—including his family, Poonam, Lallan, and Rishu, as well as partial blame for Rani’s suicide— Abhimanyu’s future remains decidedly bleak.

Thus, in the end, Abhimanyu travels away from Himachal Pradesh under police custody and is arrested for his crimes. As the shock clears, news arrives that Rani’s body couldn’t be found at the bottom of the cliff, and he begins to realize her real plan. Nonetheless, he can’t do anything while in handcuffs. Ultimately, Dinesh Pandit’s lessons of trickery and misdirect managed to save Rani and Rishu, allowing them their happy ending. Yet, it does quite the opposite for the other man. Furthermore, the same becomes even more ironic with the reveal that Abhimanyu had been such a fan of Pandit’s writing because the author was actually his father.