Ranaut’s latest release, Tanu Weds Manu, is nothing more than a popcorn movie, which stays with you till the time it’s there and then you won’t remember the movie once you’re out of the cinema hall.[break]
This time, Anand L. Rai’s “Tanu Weds Manu” is not to die for Kangana Ranaut but to be awed by the romantic lover, an NRI doctor from London, R. Madhavan. After awing the audiences in 3 Idiots, Madhavan still has that X-factor that keeps him going as one of the dark horses in Bollywood.
As soon as the movie was over, I had a sudden realization – Well, this movie is almost like a remake of Kareena-Sahid starred Jab We Met. Though the plots seems to sigh away a little from Jab We Met, most of the sequences remind you of the film, especially the attitude of Kangana Ranaut, a carefree bold lady who doesn’t want to get married with whomever her parents are willing to tie her knots with. Even Madhavan seems familiar with Sahid Kapur of Jab We Met as a lover who, despite being rejected as a suitor, is willing to help Kangana elope with her boyfriend (Jimmy Shergil).
An NRI doctor from London, Manoj Sharma a.k.a. Manu (R Madhavan) has no other option but to say yes to his parents who now want him to get settled, and like any NRIs, they are looking for a bride who belongs to a middle class Indian family.
Manu meets Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and agrees to get married even before knowing what Tanu is really like. Manu get rejected as a suitor by Tanu and is left disheartened as he comes to know that Tanu is not the picture-perfect bride his parents are eyeing for him.
But fate has to bring them together, and more than fate, it is the title of the movie that tells you about the entire climax. They both come to meet each other at a friend’s wedding in Punjab, and Manu is hit back by the love stroke again for Tanu.
Despite knowing that Manu is hopelessly in love with her, Tanu leaves no single space to hurt him and even gets him to help her elope with her boyfriend. And predictably, Manu nods his head to become a puppet to Tanu in all possible ways.
With wedding in the backdrop, what are interesting in the film are the props, costumes and the settings that look real to the middle class Indian wedding structure. The dialogues are taken care of, the Punjabi wedding looks real, and the costumes are beautiful. All the good factors however go down the drain on the face of poor execution.
While Ananda L. Rai has tried to give a fresh feel to the film, everything rather looks repetitive and stereotype with the movie at times, moving really slow and at times loud. Though Kangana Ranaut tries to give her best performance she can, she however fails to deliver the best when it comes to dialogue delivery of a character who is portrayed as a protagonist in the traditional male chauvinist society. Kangana lacks the real spunk and spar to play a free bird. And the sensual actress of Bollywood looks stunning only once in the movie when she arrives for the wedding. Most of times she looks overdone with foundations and that blood red lipstick is often disturbing.
The show stealer is definitely Madhavan here who stands out in both dialogue delivery and character execution. While many films have nothing to offer exceptional, they are still rich with the soundtracks. Ironically, Tanu Weds Manu even lacks good music, with Bhangra numbers dominating mostly. If only the director could have assimilated some fast peppy numbers, the movie’s soundtracks would have gone right.
If not for the plot, many will find enough things to enjoy in this film if they are fans of Madhavan.
Screening at QFX.
The writer is Program Officer at Indian Cultural Centre
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