If you found Tanu Weds Manu endearing, you will enjoy its sequel, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which released on Thursday.
Anand L. Rai of Raanjhanaa fame once again takes on the twisted love story of the impulsive Tanuja (Tanu) Trivedi and steady Dr Manoj (Manu) Sharma. Only this time the twists in their romance come with more knots than any love story in history and a small message of women’s emancipation and gender equality thrown in.
Moreover, the whole movie seems to be a hilarious journey through one wedding after another.
Tanu Weds Manu Returns takes off from where the earlier film ended. After their whirlwind wedding, where two baaraats (wedding processions) had arrived and guns had been drawn before a happy ending, Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu (R. Madhavan) are feeling the four-year itch, that “I love him but I don’t like him” feeling. So much so that Tanu leaves Manu at a mental asylum — is marriage really madness? — and returns to her parental home in Kanpur.
The distraught Manu follows her to India but decides divorce is the best solution and sends her a legal notice. To which Tanu reacts in her typical whimsical and rebellious manner, by meeting her cousin’s prospective groom and his family in nothing but a towel, by visiting her old romantic flames, including the now reformed ruffian Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergil), and flirting with a slimy lawyer who is her father’s tenant.
Meanwhile Manu finds Kusum “Datto” (toothy) Sangwan (also played by Ranaut), a young girl with an uncanny resemblance to his estranged wife. He believes it’s Datto’s looks that attract him but he soon falls in love with the gutsy athlete from Haryana, a quality he had found endearing in Tanu too. To make matters worse, Datto is Raja’s betrothed and he may have forgiven but hasn’t forgotten being jilted at the altar by Tanu.
What follows is a gamut of emotions portrayed brilliantly by Ranaut in her double role as the wife who feels wronged and the practical but young girl in love. The National Award winning actress nabs Datto’s tomboyish and rustic demeanour with the same elan as the stylish and sexy Tanu. Moreover, she seems to have conquered the whine in her voice, which was much evident in the earlier movie. The Queen actress is clearly here to rule.
Madhavan quietly walks into our hearts with his portrayal of a man suffering in silence, while Shergil, a highly underrated actor, plays his wingman efficiently.
Though the plot falls short and seems to move round in circles, the story and acting — with a lot of hilarious lines — doesn’t lose pace. The music is good with the foot-tapping Bano Tera Sweater and the funny Haryanvi version of Old School Girl.
Rai seems to have another winner on his hands with Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
Out now:
Film: Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Starring: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan, Jimmy Shergil
Stars: 3.5 out of 5
