Tanu Weds Manu Returns : A juggernaut of relationships
Anand L. Rai. , after 2 duds in 2007 and 2008, he found his success mantra in the form of “Tanu Weds Manu” which was released in 2011. Then came Raanjhanaa. These are both Love Stories from the small towns of hindi belts interweaven beautifully with emotions of friendships, parents, lovers, etc. using contrasting and non-confirmatory characters, rustic language and local slangs in witty dialogs, these films touch audience hearts. And again Anand is back with “Tanu Weds Manu Returns, a sequel to the original release 4 years ago.
The story in the film has also moved ahead by 4 years. It starts with portrayal of Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) and Manu’s (Madhavan) marriage situation after 4 years. Apparently Manu could not handle the free spirited and rebellion Tanu and their marriage is on the verge of breaking. Tanu returns back to her parents in Kanpur and Manu to his in Delhi. While secretly waiting for Manu’s call, Tanu befriends with the unwanted tenant Advocate Arun Kumar Singh aka Chintu(Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), in her home. But as she does not get any response from Manu, she goes back to her wild life before the marriage.
In the meantime, Manu meets Kussum aka Dutto who is a look a like of Tanu. She is a state level athlete and Manu “feels” that he is fallen in love with her. What happens later is an exciting rollercoaster of emotions and laughter.
Anand’s Trump Card, Himanshu Sharma, the writer of the film, delivers yet another stunning screenplay laced with witty and interesting dialogs. His strong writing is the backbone of the movie. The rustic flavor of the small town slangs, intertwined lives of the people living there, emotional connect of the people with each other, rotting traditions but still open to move forward due to compassionate hearts, etc everything is brought up beautifully by the writer. He also tries to touch social issues and give a message about few without being too preachy. Another of his forte is detailed and strong characterisation due to which Audience connect with and remember even the smaller roles. Simply superb writing. And the dialog writing need special mention too.
With correct writing material, a director’s job is half done. Still film making involves many aspects which can go haywire and a good director has to make sure that everything remains in control and narrative is entertaining and swift. Anand L. Raid proved that with good content, he can do wonders and he does that again here. Swift and flowy narrative with entertaining and witty scenes having strong emotional connect help the audience get immersed in the world created by the filmmaker. He has given justice to every character from the original and they all help in telling the story correctly in the sequel.
There are few loopholes here and there which may make the audience lose attention from the movie at some places, but overall Anand has a total grip on the narrative and tells the story beautifully. Do notice all the detailing of the small town people and life, which you can easily identify with. He has also tried to elevate the scenes with unconventional use of songs like the english number in the movie and the old song in the pre-climax.
By the end of the movie, audience gets confused about whom to root for because the writing is so balanced that every character and his point of view seems correct. In fact, one can identify with the dialog by Manu’s Mother “Hume to yahi nahi samaz raha hai hum konse side se hain. Right side se hain to right side konsa hai?” So basically, things are unpredictive and that makes them glued to the screen even more.
The movie has strong performances by everyone which makes every character memorable. Kangana is so good that there can be a separate article for her performance itself. She makes it very hard for you to not fall in love with her. She looks gorgeous, stunning, hot in various avatar’s of Tanu and as common as any girl in character of Kussum/Dutto. She emotes through her eye, her expressions and body language. This movie will remove any doubts about her acting abilities if any remained even after playing the adorable Raani in the movie “Queen”. Hats off to her.
Madhavan underplays and keeps low profile giving prominence to the story and other characters and it helps the movie a lot. He did a fabulous job in his role.
Swara Bhaskar, Eijaz Khan, Jimmy Shergill and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, everyone delivered memorable performances, but Deepak Dobriyal gets huge screen time and steals the show with his portrayal of the character. You will remember his scene when he reads Manu’s minds and alerts him not to go that way or when he says “Paap hai ye” in the climax scene.
Production and technicality wise, every department did superb job. Cinematography by Chirantan Das is fantastic. Songs are good and bgm is effective. Editing is accurate. Even the costumes by Ankita Jha and Reza Sharifi are worth of a mention.
A good movie in my opinion is the one which takes control of my heart and makes me go through emotional ups and downs and mesmerises me at the end of it all. This is one of those rare movies which can do this to the audience.
Ratings: 
Recommendation: A clean family entertainer barring the drinking scenes, do watch this movie with all family and friends. It is a tell of people who are real and ALIVE. Zinda logo ki Zindi kahani. Go, buy the tickets.
