Thursday, 4 June 2015

TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS-- MOVIE REVIEW





Anand L Rai had stormed the industry a few years back with Tanu Weds Manu. The movie gave a major boost to Kangana Ranaut's acting prowess and established Rai as a very sought after director who knew the task at hand, storytelling.
Four years have passed since and Raanjhana (alluring, if I might use that word) happened meanwhile, Kangana won a National Award and 2015 saw one of the most anticipated film in recent times releasing.

 And it all starts with our cutesy couple Tanu and Manu, now having realized the horrors of staying with each other go to a mental asylum to seek re-dressal. (Seriously, Who Does That???) Ok accepted. Let’s move on.

Tanu Returns, with her ishtyle now graduating to the swag stage, Manu Returns, with the similar toned down demeanour albeit he is angry/irritated this time around!
Tanu sits wrapped around in a towel making fun of an IT engineer (Well, everybody makes fun of an IT guy) who has come along with his family with a marriage proposal for Tanu's sister. Expectations rising.

And post a hilarious 10 minutes sequence involving Pappi Ji and a divorce notice being sent to Tanu, the film travels downhill and that too at a rapid pace! 





(Also a point that needs highlight upfront is that TWMR is not that bad a film. It is enjoyable at fair enough moments and a good piece for time pass, which is also what the audience expected out of the film, but I as a viewer went away disappointed simply because the extraordinary connection that the characters had established 4 years back was somehow not there at all, it all appeared superficial)

Deepak Dobariyal happens to be in fine form as the lovable Pappi Ji who also gets the best lines in the film. And he does justice to his role. 

Zeeshan Aayub's character graph soars off from nowhere and then disappears mid way and re surges towards the end making a fine performance getting demolished under the muddled plot.

Swara Bhaskar, Rajesh Sharma and the other ensemble performs as per the requirement.

None the less, this film belongs to Kusum Sangwan more than it belongs to Tanuja Trivedi! Kangana is outright superlative in portraying Kusum's character. And despite glitches in the character sketch, Kusum is the character that stays with you long after the film is over. Kangana's Tanu is not convincing this time around apart from a wonderful performance set on Ja Ja Bewafaa song! 





Jimmy Shergil provides much solidarity to the film. While Jimmy Shergil is in a more calmed down avatar of  Raja Awasthi, he is brilliant never the less. A good friend of mine and a thespian by profession once said that to act, the dialogue needs to come out from the eyes! The hope that Raja sees on Tanu returning to his life and the hurt when it crashes is all visible in the eyes!  


Madhavan's Manu Bhaiya is not even half as convincing. It is just the screen presence of Madhavan that somehow makes up for his act. In fact the way his character behaves and transforms during the film made me hate his character this time around. What's with being in love if you can't stand for it, Manu sir!?

Amidst an abundant universe of supremely talented supporting cast, TWMR never quite delivers the high it promises to. And there could not be more than two broad reasons for the same-
a) The focus shifts from the concept to the characters, AND/OR
b) Clap-tracks diluting the larger picture that the film is aiming at

And as the case is most of the time, the balloon of expectations bursts on the head of the director! Rai does show his grip at times and the movie breezes across stretches, expectations rise and then the bubble bursts.
The gross error that the movie does is that you never know what conclusion is the movie coming to? And that happens purely due to a half baked plot which is served up with glitzy little elements to make up for the same.

I have always failed to understand the sensibilities behind making sequels to films which were once successful unless there was a thought in the head since inception to plan out a movie series.

But to be true to the producer also being a human, there is not a faster way available to churn out cash than to build up on an existing hype of the prequel, run on its established popularity and visibility and reach out to a large expecting audience.
Yes, agreeing to fact that there have been sequels which were not initially planned but turned up to be good films (some in fact better--refer the Munna-Bhai series), the ratio is not even worth discussing.

You knew you laughed during the film, blew whistles but could not find a single scene worth the remembrance! And that my dear folks, is where TWMR mixes with the garbage of such related films. 

This is probably how it feels when the expectations come crashing down, be it in the reel or the real life!



**1.5 STARS**

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