Tanu Weds Manu Returns(TWMR) starts with a hassled couple, who bring a bagful of marital problems to psychiatric counselors after 4 years of their marriage and are very expressive in telling how their spouse has turned their life ‘jhand’(destroyed it). The last time they had sex(as they say) was on Bhaiyaduj in 2013! Their accusations range from 5000 years of atrocities over women to bipolar disorder. This is in contrast to their happy marriage video with ‘sun saiba sun’ song which is shown just before it. Manu Sharma, the husband, becomes a bit more expressive with his claims and protests and is detained in the mental asylum. It is this and the comparative aggressiveness and unfairness of Tanu’s accusations, among other things, which makes the audience see Manu as the more wronged one.
Tanu also feels bad. Both are now waiting for signals from each other; they want to reunite, to forgive and to be forgiven. But the signals are confusing, are made confused by third party interventions too. Now the spouses, in a vengeful mood, make themselves available in the market, to spurn, to assert, to satisfy their egoes. So they start looking for options. Tanu gets many options; Manu falls in love with a DU student who is a Tanu lookalike. This girl, Kusum/Datto, minces no words, takes no nonsense from anybody, can be as sharp with her tongue as with her karate chop, and considers Manu to be an ‘adhed bawda’ and ‘secondhand’ yet falls in love with him. The irony of ironies is that she is already engaged to no other person than Manu’s old rival, the high-spirited Raja Awasthi(Jimmy Shergill) who is in no mood to relent this time(‘is bar hum bata rahe hain, hum nahin katwayenge apna’, ‘sale ko original bhi yahi rakhenge, duplicate bhi yahi…’). However, the delusion comes to end at the climactic point in the movie, when Manu is on the verge of marrying Kusum/ Datto.
The story is very simple, of a couple who drift apart, and come together at the end. The plot progresses through many episodes that are very interesting. However, the total effect of the movie is something achieved by a combination of various things and it is wonderful. And that is in spite of what can be called a predictable climax of the movie by many or most.
In TWMR, one can find a plethora of wonderful scenes, each one crafted well, and leading the main plot or the subplot, or at least, telling something about the characters. The scene at the psychiatric hospital, the one where the groom has come to see Tanu’s sister, Manu and Pappi’s DU lectures and first meeting with Datto, when Manu goes to Datto’s house with his proposal, Raja Awasthi fuming before Tanu about Manu’s latest romance with his fiancée, the whole of Punjabi marriage scene with mistaken identity, the kidnapping of Komal and the ‘artificial baby’ revelation by Payal before Datto, mistaking her for Tanu, the showdown between Tanu and Datto(the rebel meeting the straight shooter), and the ‘fera’ scene when Manu and Datto are getting married—all these are carefully crafted with each shot and dialogue giving full entertainment.
Each expression accentuates what is going on in the script, there is good camerawork while focusing on faces and there is no wastage of time. In many scenes, there is always a perky dialogue, or action which fills in the scene with more interest. It seems there has been a lot of work on the script and editing. The director knows when to catch which expression and on whose face with his mid and close-up shots. This makes for a lot of cinematic joy. But this does not make the movie slow. The pace is good. If you want to pee, you wait for the intermission. And even in the intermission you keep thinking about the movie.
Tanu Sharma’s character gives a pivotal serious touch with which the effect of every scene, situation, and dialogue stands out. Madhvan plays Manu Sharma, a somber and mature person. Madhavan has played this role wonderfully, of a person who can take the frivolous and the superficial in his stride with his solid and dynamic passivity. This is evident in every shot of his. His acting in this movie is intense without being dramatic, just right and subtle almost everywhere in this movie.
You don’t have to look too far for comedy in this movie. It is a romantic comedy, a kind of comedy of errors, too. It has verbal comedy and situational comedy which predominate and are absolutely side-splitting. The movie certainly has its touching moments but it is prevented from becoming senti or tear-jerking. Even though it is a kind of romantic comedy, there is no physicality of love, not even a kiss. And that reinforces the effect of the scene where Manu touches the cheek of Datto(with the right hand this time) and admits his love for her. This is a mature, sincere expression of love. The movie, however, never allows sentiment to rule over a situation for long-for example, Manu’s emotional proposal to Datto is immediately followed by Pappi’s mimicry of him and towards the end, when Datto is crying, the sentimental relish of the situation is checked by the arrival of her brother and his silly questions. TWMR has been fine-tuned that way.
The stolidity of Manu Sharma is offset by the sparkling Tanu Sharma and Kusum, both played by Kangana. In this movie. Kangana Ranaut has played a somewhat frustrated and paranoid wife at the start, the effervescent Tanu Trivedi through most of the movie, and the pitiable but strong wife witnessing her husband’s marriage to another girl. Oh, I almost forgot, the other role, of Kusum Sangwan. It seems so different, it is done so perfectly that it’s easy to forget that Tanu Trivedi and Kusum are played by the same actress. The role of Kusum /Datto also is done so wonderfully with the Haryanvi accent, and has a confident and proud personality with a rugged simplicity with which she can tackle anyone( as se says to Tanu: Main thari jaisi oversmart na su par main apne ghar ke liye roti bhi kama saku hun aur apne bal ko bhi samhal saku hun. Tu na roti kama sake hai aur bal to tere bas ke hain ko na) and one liners from English; she also has a sentimental and considerate side(the song she sings ‘I might be sentimental’ stands true for her) is also capable of self-sacrifice. Datto’s endearing personality is what prevents the audience from seeing her as a housebreaker.
This was the first time I saw a movie starring Kangana Ranaut and I am impressed. Kangna’s voice has something original, a sincerity, and she can give many meanings with it. Her eyes speak, and how! She has shown many shades in her acting and has all the makings of a great actress. If she gets the right roles, she can be in the league of great actresses like Audrey Hepburn and Vaheeda Rehman. Certainly, today she’s heads and shoulders above many or most mainstream actresses of Bollywood. Her beauty is somewhat different; there is a certain je ne sais quoi about it. And she reminds me a little of Zareena Wahab and the young Indira Gandhi.
The other actors playing Pappi, Raja, Jassi, Payal, and Chintoo have done a great job too. For example, Eijaz Khan has filled the role of Jassi, the Sikh friend of Manu with life. And Pappi has been made so memorable by Deepak Dobriyal. Same goes for Raja(Jimmy Shergill). So much can be written about them. They stand out with their personal traits and dialogues. All the characters are keyed in a lively tune. Take away any of these and you rob the movie of some of its fun.
The subplots involving Pappi and Raja Awasthi are foils to the main plot, the triangle and the joy given by each is so much that we never feel something is being dragged.
The movie moves from London to Jhajhar, through Kanpur, and Delhi. And the characters are from U.P., Haryana, Punjab, and Bihar. There even is some Dandiya. Kangana Ranaut is from H.P. And so, a large chunk of North Indian population will find something of their interest. Madhavan can attract South Indian audience as well. Some of these things may have been intended but the movie is excellent and so they become incidental.
TWMR relies on certain values, a basic level of goodness. There are no real villains. Even the ‘Ravan’ is a good guy. In fact, Ram, Seeta, Hanuman, and Ravan are mentioned lightly in the movie but there is a certain reworking of the story. One other thing I liked about the movie was its comment on community decisions that are forced upon individuals, especially upon females, particularly in the matter of marriage.
You may find the dialogues to be a bit cheesy and corny at certain points but it’s not an art movie, really. The language used in the movie is largely of North India, particularly of parts of UP and Haryana. Films like TWMR and Dum Laga Ke Haisha are able to enliven themselves with the poetry and idiom of common man’s language. Rather than have a language by scriptwriters who don’t even know Hindi or the regional vernacular properly and end up corrupting the language, such movies attempt to accept and reestablish the language as it is spoken. That such movies are becoming hits also tells that the larger character of India comes from the non-metro, the small towns and from the rising middle class.
Some songs are good, even if not memorable. ‘Move on’ is thrilling. ‘Banno’ is good as a marriage song but I wonder about the use of the word ‘sexy’ in it. ‘Old school girl’ is funny and touching both. ‘Ho gaya hai pyar’ is hummable.
The screenplay is a great strength of the movie. The dialogues are very striking and are rendered with the right nuances. There is no lack of spark, especially in the ones by Raja, Payal, Chintoo, and the inimitable Pappi. There are many interesting references in the movie, such as, to Hrithik, Shahrukh, Salman Khan, Katrina, Aishwarya, Raju Shrivastava, Lolita, Ram, Ravan.
I saw TWM after I saw this one and so I can think of it as a flashback, which was a different experience and good in a way. For example, not knowing what exactly happened between Manu and Raja Awasthi in the past creates an additional element of mystery. TWMR’s is a case of the sequel being better than the prequel, and this is not very common.
