In this lopsided education system, 'Tanu weds Manu returns' comes as a refreshing leveler. It teaches the women that this trick of creepy persistence works well for them as well. This curly haired Kangana aka Tanu was told to leave by so many people with a straight face so many times that a self respecting person would have left the solar system let alone the village but our shameless-lady didn't budge an inch and voila, she got the guy. Her antics worked and she snapped her husband back into the frying pan just before he could land himself into the fire!
Apart from a seriously heady mix of humor, concocted almost entirely by Deepak Dobriyal (Pappi), some social messages (excluding the above one!) were also weaved in the script very smartly. I am not sure if the Modi government offered to partly fund the film for promoting its 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign (an offer which later would have been withdrawn under the pressure of 'khap Panchayats' for criticizing 'Honor Killing'!)
But even if the film would have been as mundane as a CCTV footage of a deserted road, I would have still ended up giving this film 4 out of 5 stars for this one scene - Kangana hugging that Rickshaw-walla guy! Oh, what an enchanting moment it was. I could smell her! I was like, "That's awesome. That's my kinda girl!"
Ok Ok, I am a very biased film reviewer, but I can't help it. Deal with it!
The film also opened up doors of limitless possibilities for a lot of guys and girls shackled in the "Indian culture"; doors which they thought can't open once shut. The key to these 'closed doors' was handed over via these pithy words of kangana to her lawyer tenant, "Didi kehte hi ho ya maante bhi ho?" (do u call me sister as a formality or you really mean it?)
Most ice-breaking sessions between a guy and a girl in most parts of India happen with "Didi" or "Bhaiyya" operating as a default salutation. And once uttered the whole paraphernalia of Rakshabandhan kicks in. Its a downward spiral, a bottomless bore-well. Once you fall into it, you gotta have the luck of 'Prince' to come out of it alive. Or so one thought.
But no. Your actions speak louder than words. Doesn't matter what you called him/her the first few occasions. Don't get bogged down under the burden of some words. You need not to resign over something you said during election campaign; brush it aside calling it a 'Chunavi-jumla' and move on. Just flirt unabashedly and the damage of the word (Didi or Bhaiyya) can be undone!
However, demeaning Artificial Insemination didn't go down my throat (no pun intended) well. I mean, had some cunning chacha or a nasty sister-in-law blew the lid off the secret, I would have understood it but the taunt coming from the Athlete-kangana who shredded the bigoted mentality of her alter ego to smithereens few seconds ago left a sour taste in my mouth.
Also getting into mental asylum is shown to be as easy as getting into MTV Roadies; a stupid act and you are in. Seriously? You are, for all practical purposes, calling the person MAD. It will have serious ramifications on his social life. You need some solid grounds and consistent history of the patient to take as drastic a step as incarcerating him into asylum. Throwing a chair and raising one's volume is certainly not enough.
Having said that, I enjoyed the film. Sure, Kangana Ranaut was everywhere - not just one but two! Maybe she will collect another best-actor National award for this film but it was not just her, as most people are claiming, which makes this film as enthralling and entertaining. Madhavan's subtle and in-the-character acting was worth watching, Jimmy Shergil's honesty was very disarming, the lawyer-tenant played his part with such finesse and what can I say about the spectacular acting of Deepak Dobriyal. Probably it was his Midas kiss which transformed this film into gold.
Go for it.
