Film Review: TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS

If you want to see the film for its performances, leave your brain behind at home! 

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Deepak Dobriyal, Swara Bhaskar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Director: Anand L. Rai

I had missed watching Tanu Weds Manu in 2011. I so wanted to see it but no one else showed interest; while the film left the theatres too soon. When Tanu Weds Manu Returns was announced, I decided to watch the first one online and did just that. It’s very well made and I decided to catch the sequel despite mixed reactions from the public.

THE STORY

Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu (R. Madhavan) have been married for four years and they are facing marital trouble. After a visit to a marriage counsellor, Manu lands up in a mental asylum. Tanu ups and leaves London to go back to her mother’s home in Kanpur. She gets back to flirting with her old boyfriends.

Chintu (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) has taken Tanu’s old room on rent. He is on his way to becoming a lawyer and has been living there without paying rent for many months. Tanu finds him a useful buddy – to drink with and to offer transport around town on his two-wheeler.

In the meanwhile, at Tanu’s instigation, Manu’s best friend Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) goes to London to rescue his friend from the mental asylum. Manu decides to file for divorce. What happens when he sees Datto (Kangana Ranaut), an exact replica of Tanu, and gets attracted to her? Then there is Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill), the local goonda. This time round, he is engaged to Datto. Will he let this fiancée go as easily as he did the first one?

MY PERCEPTION

Kangana has performed brilliantly as both Tanu and Datto. R. Madhavan makes a perfect partner in his inimitable style.

Deepak Dobriyal as Pappi has a chunky role and was excellent – very natural. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub has been consistently good in many films. I have seen his performances in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Raanjhanaa and both were really good. He’s splendid in this film too. Swara Bhaskar is also good.

Having done away with the good parts, let me get to why the film is so bad:

The producer and director have tried to ride on Kangana Ranaut’s popularity and created a faltu film that makes no sense. To begin with, why would a marriage counsellor sit like a judge; speak Hindi; in a mental asylum of all places; that too in London? How the hell did the director miss this glaring error? If a guy is unable to adjust in his marriage of four years, on what basis would they declare him mentally unstable? And over and above that the psychiatrist-counsellor-whatever addresses Manu as Mr. Sharma. Isn’t Manu Sharma a doctor? Amazing!

Manu Sharma is 40. He fell in love with Tanu four years back for the very qualities (or so it seemed) that she has now. Fair enough that “familiarity breeds contempt” and their marriage is falling apart. Fair enough that he wants to divorce her. But, a big BUT here, what the hell does he see in Datto? She’s half his age, going to university on sports quota, is from a small village, and looks ugly. How can a suave, 40-year-old married doctor from London fall for her? And is he in love or in lust or what the hell? I couldn’t understand the logic.

It’s Tanu’s character that stays true to form. She is exactly what she is. And Manu had bloody well accept that. Jimmy Shergill has been wasted. Even his character has no zing, his being a goonda and all that.

And where does that moral lecture by Datto’s brother (Rajesh Sharma) fit in? Datto’s father treats her badly because she’s a girl-child. But that sudden lecture, out of the blue, grates. The villagers stand around doing nothing. I thought our film-makers have moved way beyond that.

Then the “saat phere” – Manu is determined to get married to Datto till the end. Why? How? I can understand his wanting to divorce Tanu. But why this desperation to tie the knot? It doesn’t fit with Manu’s character at all.

Then there is the episode of bride-kidnapping. She says she’s not interested in Pappi. He thinks he knows better and kidnaps her. What happens to her otherwise? Were the director and editor sleeping?

VERDICT: If you can leave your brain at home and watch the film for some of the actors’ performances, then maybe you should watch it.

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super

Film Review: QUEEN

Total Paisa Vasool!

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Lisa Haydon, Rajkummar Rao
Director: Vikas Bahl

Venkat’s friend recommended the film to him and he had seen it twice already before accompanying me to Cinemax Sion to watch it for the third time. It did make me wonder what the film was about. I had seen a couple of promos and I like Kangana’s acting; reasons enough to watch the film.

THE STORY

The film begins with the Mehendi ceremony a couple of days before Rani’s aka Queen’s (Kangana Ranaut) wedding to Vijay (Rajkummar Rao). She’s completely excited and dances along with her family, looking forward to her married life.

Later in the evening, Vijay asks her to meet him at Café Coffee Day and tells her that he does not want to marry her. She is shocked, hurt and in tears. But he refuses to listen to her pleas. She is unable to believe that he plans to ditch her as it is he who has wooed her over the years. Rani is from a middle class family where a woman leads a protected and conditional life. Vijay had to chase her over many months before she responds. Now he wants to call the wedding off as he feels she cannot adjust to his fast pace of life.

Rani decides to go on her honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam by herself as she had used up all her savings to buy the tickets for her dream destinations.

The rest of the story is how Rani gets back her confidence and moves on in life. Until the point when Vijay wants her back in his life. Will she marry him now?

MY PERCEPTION

Kangana Ranaut has been consistently working on her acting skills and getting better and better in her roles. There may be some of her films that have not succeeded but I am sure it was not because of her. She was just amazing in her role as Queen. I cried and laughed along with her and so wanted to get up and dance when she did. She exuded that much energy in her role. Fantastic!

While Rajkumar Rao’s character was irritating (it was meant to be), he has done an excellent job of it.

Lisa Haydon as Vijayalaxmi who befriends Kangana in Paris has a chunky role and she has done complete justice to it.

Every other character, Queen’s parents, brother, grandmother, her roommates, the Italian restaurateur she meets in Amsterdam, was perfect for his/her role and each one was very good.

After so many years – maybe a couple of decades – I felt that I did not want a movie to end when it did. It was that good. The film ran for about 2 ½ hours and was flawless with a superb script, excellent direction, awesome role play and ideal music.

VERDICT: What are you waiting for? Get to the nearest theatre and see the film. Total paisa vasool!

RATING:

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super

Film Review: DOUBLE DHAMAAL

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaffrey, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ashish Chaudhary, Mallika Sherawat, Kangana Ranaut

Director: Indra Kumar

THE STORY: There isn’t one. So I refuse to honour the film by writing the nonsense that they showed on the screen.

MY PERCEPTION: That I am the biggest fool on this earth that I paid good money to watch this sick film that could not garner even one laugh and calls itself a comedy.

AN AFTERTHOUGHT: Mallika was good at 'Jalebi Bai' even if there was nothing new that she could expose and Kangana was more cheerful than usual. 

VERDICT: Do you want me to say more?

RATING: * Stupid (That's a minus, in case you have not guessed)

* Stupid

* Silly

** Shaky

*** Smart

**** Snazzy

***** Super