Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015, Dir: Anand L. Rai) is one of those rare movies where a return is not missing the turn. The two avatars of the very talented (and loving & living it) Ms Kangana Ranaut steal the show, sometimes from each other. The Haryanvi lass from Jhajjar, however, is a hard act to beat - the sports quota athlete from Ramjas college is an almost perfect impersonation, feisty and fragile, fairytale yet down to earth. Himanshu Sharma's script/dialogues are spot on, except in the end when the suddenly manipulative plot returns the chubby cheeks bye-candy Manu (Madhavan) to born again bhabhiji Tanu, instead of the Karate Kusum we have all by now fallen in love with. The music by an ex-NID Film & Video student (calling himself Krsna Solo now) is passable, except for the pretend Haryanvi-in-English ditty 'Old School Girl' (Singer: Kalpana Gandharv) and 'Banno Tera Swagger Laage Saxy' (Music Director: Tanishk & Vayu; Singers: Brijesh Shandllya & Swati Sharma). Deepak Dobriyal is mostly over the top, but sometimes funnily so. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub’s Chintu is a well essayed opportunist with a heart on hold. The faux-topical treatise about Haryana khapdom gutturally against gung-ho lovers is one of the few but glaring false spots in the script.