Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Movie Review (Hindi)

First there was Tanu Weds Manu which regaled the audience with a fresh story and great actors. Then, because of its success, came the sequel, Tanu Weds Manu Returns... Wonder who named it this way??? 

Whatever the reason for the name, the movie had the same characters as in the first one, thankfully. So here's a marriage which was conducted with a lot of filmi drama and now hibernates in the cold, both literally and metaphorically. It's the London winter where Manu (R Mahadevan) and Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) live. So bored is Tanu with Manu that she does not turn a hair when her hubby is put into a mental asylum, apparently for torturing his wife. I love the unconventionality of the entire episode. 

While Manu is among the mad brethren, Tanu returns home and behaves like a traditional vamp in Hindi films would!! Taking bike rides with a neighbour, meeting up with her ex-fiance, Raja Awasthi, (Jimmy Shergill) !! 

So once divorce proceedings are underway, Manu, out of the asylum and back in India, falls in love again, but wait, the girl studies in college and is a spitting image of Tanu. So, does he fall in love with Tanu again? Our new Tanu is named Datto who speaks impeccable Haryanvi. Next the audience moves to Haryana and marriage. The last phera of the marriage is about to make them man and wife, when Datto asks one last time if Manu is ready to go through with this. No, our hero isn't. Much better to be sent to the asylum than marry someone who is a better version of his ex-wife, I guess. 

What a filmy ending! But a great watch. Anand L. Rai, you do have courage, being the director. Take a bow, Kangana, for the twin roles so different from each other and Madhavan for being a whiny, weepy and mopey film hero and winning the audience over. 

Hindi Movie Review

Queen

Bollywood still has hopes of redemption if such movies are shot. Queen was like a breath of fresh air. The main reason being the well thought out script. Honeymooning alone in Paris and Amsterdam, befriending a smart, thoughtful waitress (Lisa Haydon), sharing a room with three men from different countries – that’s certainly not what a typical middle class Delhi girl does. But in the movie it all falls into place. So where’s the hero??? Would you believe it? There’s no hero to carry the lady into the sunset!! The egotistic Delhi boy (Rajkummar Rao) is beautifully put in place while our heroine waltzes into the sunrise. Kudos to Kangana Ranaut for her make up less face and natural dramatic talent and cheers to the director Vikas Bahl and producers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. Queen certainly deserves her crown!!!