Tanu weds Manu Returns | Reviews and Boxoffice - Page 24

by Mihir Fadnavis May 22, 2015 09:03 IST

A crowd pleaser is a film that induces seeti and taali from the audience, making sure they go back home feeling they've spent their money on something cheerful. One way to do this is to flesh out a story with an unusual conflict and resolve that conflict in ways that surprise the audience, while, also shoehorning a social message into the film in the process. This is difficult to do and as a result, rare. Queen belonged to this rare bread of films.

Another way to make a crowd pleaser is to aim for the lowest common denominator, establish an unusual conflict and resolve it using unbelievable contrivances, while dishing out crackling dialogues, soap-opera style dramatic beats and social messages. Tanu Weds Manu Returns is one of these films.

Director Anand L Rai's filmmaking style is obvious from his filmography - he makes stories that romanticize' love, which means they're full of tropes and (like love itself) don't make much sense. This doesn't mean Tanu Weds Manu Returns is without promise.

That Tanu Weds Manu got a sequel is surprising enough, but to have a sequel with an interesting plot is even better. Four years after the events of the first film Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu (Madhavan) are still in London, but are now a bickering couple. They both have huge egos and can't pass a single day without breaking into a massive fight.

Illogical Thing #1 appears right in the opening scene, in which Tanu and Manu go to a British mental asylum and discuss their problems with Hindi-speaking psychiatrists. By the end of their session, Manu is shouting at Tanu and is locked up in the asylum for violent behaviour.

Illogical Thing #2 arrives soon after. Tanu leaves Manu behind in the asylum and goes back to India to unleash the full power of her spoilt-child image by walking around in just a towel and flirting with a few people. At home in Kanpur, the men are all falling for Tanu. One of the folks who has the hots for her is Chintu (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), who is a squatter and (conveniently) a lawyer and sends Tanu's divorce papers to Manu.

Meanwhile, Manu is overcome with placid rage and also returns to India, but discovers Kusum, a lookalike of Tanu, and immediately falls for her.

At this point, Tanu Weds Manu Returns is flying - Kusum speaks in a hilarious rapid fire Haryanvi accent and kicks copious amounts of a** with her hockey stick. There are a couple of laugh-out-loud exchanges between Manu and Kusum, and some interesting and funny commentary on the institution of marriage. In the film's best scene, while Manu's mother bickers non stop, his father calmly explains to him the inevitability of fights in a marriage, the good natured but hormonal nature of women, and the elixir to handling them with love when they blow their fuse.

Individually there are a few scenes that are well done in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, but the sum of the film's parts is a gangly machine that falls apart in the second half. The inner workings of the lookalike plot vehicle is never explored much. The concept is arcane - Manu finds Kusum attractive because she looks exactly like Tanu, but she doesn't have Tanu's annoying qualities. Had the story stuck to exploring this aspect of the triangle, it could have been a classic. Unfortunately, in the second half, the story diverts from this and goes into a weird kidnapping subplot that is so contrived that it exists solely to make a few people arrive at the dramatic ending scene.

Moreover, the escalation of Manu's feelings for Kusum and his actions become increasingly ludicrous. It's fine when a teenager is trying to make his or her significant other jealous by hanging out with another hot' person, but when 40-year-olds do so, it's ridiculous and also improbable.

There are also some seriously ham-fisted attempts at social commentary - ranging from a speech at a crowd on women empowerment and Punju men's difficulty in acceptance of in vitro fertilization. These stick out like a sore thumbs and when they're unleashed, it's almost as though they belong in another movie.

But the real draw of Tanu Weds Manu Returns is that you get two Kangana Ranauts to entertain you, and she delivers in a huge way. Both her avatars are so likable you (almost) forget the gaffes of the film. The others in the cast don't fare as well. The usually fantastic Deepak Dobriyal is needlessly over the top, while Madhavan doesn't emote much apart from sullenness. Ayyub does his best to salvage a rather inconsistent character, while Jimmy Shergil seems at ease with the lack of logic around the film. There are quite a few throwaway one-liners to keep things chugging along, so full credit to writer Himanshu Sharma.

The biggest takeaway from Tanu Weds Manu Returns is that there has to be some sort of a demon that enters the minds of filmmakers and turns the second half of their movies into a horrific mess. Instead of the incredible devices that fill the second half, the film would have benefitted with some exorcism and an injection of logic.

As of now, Tanu Weds Manu Returns is half a good movie, and half a dunderhead. If you consider both halves of this movie like a couple, then one of them surely needed to give some love and affection to the other before the fuse blew

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/tanu-weds-manu-returns-review-kangana-is-brilliant-in-a-sequel-thats-half-good-and-half-idiotic-2257562.html

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Film: Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Ratings: ***1/2

Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Madhavan, Deepak Dobriyal, Jimmy Shergill, Swara Bhaskar, Eijaz Khan, Rajendra Gupta, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and others

Directed by: Aanand L. Rai

WHAT'S IT ABOUT:
The film begins four years after the marriage of Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu Sharma (Madhavan) who're now struggling to get along with each other. After a serious clash that lands Manu in a mental asylum, Tanu finds herself back in India with her family. Manu follows soon after his friend Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) rescues him. Both are in their respective hometowns and things just get worse when Manu decides to send his wife a legal notice. It pushes Tanu to become the same old fiery and brash woman she used to be and this time, she goes out seeking the attention of Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill). Meanwhile, Manu falls in love with a student athlete from Delhi University, Kusum (also Kangana), who happens to be a look-a-like of Tanu. Matters get complicated once it is learnt that Kusum is supposed to get married to Raja. And more confusion follows when Kusum also falls for Manu and accepts his marriage proposal instead. Now the stage is set for yet another wedding, which can't happen until Tanu and Manu are divorced. What follows is what the rest of the film is about.

WHAT'S HOT:
Tanu Weds Manu was an endearing love story with some of the most well sketched characters on screen. The same characters return and it's good to see them once more. There is a calculated effort on director Aanand L. Rai's part to make the film very different from his earlier offering and he succeeds in that. Himanshu Sharma's dialogues are a highlight and lift many a scene on their pure strength. To Rai's credit, he attempts to reconstruct the same relationships between his characters the second time - and this time, they seem radically different because they've evolved over time. At times, the film tilts towards the darker side, thereby offering a new perspective. The performances are top-class just like in the first part.

Madhavan, four years older and a few kilos heavier, is fabulous. Subtle and dignified, he never steps out of character even in the flimsiest of scenes. Deepak Dobriyal gets the best lines and tends to stay over-the-top most of the times. Swara Bhaskar (Payal) and Rajendra Gupta have less to do but still shine. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (as Chintu) is a new addition to the cast and despite a purposeless part, he scores big time. Of course, the film's crowning glory is Kangana who betters herself with every film she does. This time, as Tanu, she gets to do much more in terms of diversity. But her portrayal of Kusum steals the show this time. Heartwarming, honest and edgy, Kangana as Kusum is the life of the film.

WHAT'S NOT:
If this were a standalone film and not a sequel, many questions wouldn't be raised. But it is a sequel, these are the same characters and it is their story once again. The first fight itself between Tanu and Manu at the beginning of the film that lands Manu in a mental asylum is almost ridiculous. It's beyond logic and beyond comprehension. Rai tries hard to be bold cosmetically but it falls short because he is far more regressive where it actually matters. Manu falling in love with Kusum at first sight because she looks like his wife; the much-dreaded Raja of the first part being reduced to a chaperone in this one; Pappi stalking and harassing a girl who repeatedly tells him she doesn't like him (why does Rai repeatedly justify eve-teasing and stalking in his films?); Chintu first addressing Tanu as didi' and then obsessing over her; Payal and her entire IVF track that is unbelievably preposterous.

The problem with TWMR is in its sheer dishonesty. If this were an Anees Bazmee brainless comedy, it would still be understandable and acceptable. One feeble speech on woman empowerment by Rajesh Sharma (who plays Kusum's brother) is a sad attempt to cover up for what the rest of the film preaches. The climax reminds you of the melodramatic 80s - the days of K. Bapaiah and films like Tohfa and Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai - with Tanu working and dancing in the house where her husband is getting married. Production values of the film are shoddy - nowhere even close to the first part or Raanjhanaa.

WHAT TO DO:
Despite all its flaws, watch it for the one-woman-show of Kangana Ranaut.

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/review-tanu-weds-manu-returns-review-great-dialogues-endearing-characters-and-top-class-performances-2087983