MELODRAMEDY
A generally underwhelming love story cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a romantic comedy or a romantic melodrama.
FEB 27, 2011 – FAR AWAY FROM THE MALLS and the multiplexes, there lies an India ripe for rediscovery. This is the heartland that lulls itself to sleep with the soothing tones of Ameen Sayani, as he reads out – as if from an unusually large laundry list – the names and locations of those who’ve requested the songs on his show. Farmayishi geet, he says, invoking a phrase that lies forgotten in this FM era, and Manu (R Madhavan) is one of the many listeners. Manu has made his home in London, yet his heart belongs in Sayaniland – we see him one night, at his parental home, beside a radio set as Mohammad Rafi caresses the phrase Teri aankhon ke siva duniya mein rakha kya hai. This song, this night, throbs with extra feeling, for Manu has located a woman worthy of those words – those eyes, the ones that Rafi claims are the only things that matter in this entire world, belong to Tanu (Kangana Ranaut), the spitfire that Manu was supposed to marry but who has now rejected him.
But Manu, the eternal romantic, has not been able to accept this rejection, and it’s not difficult to see why – he is, after all, a Rafi fan. The debate rages, even today, about who was better, Rafi or Kishore, but surely there will be no disagreement that Rafi devotees are more hopelessly romantic, more prone to pine. Manu offers proof at a wedding, when he prompts the rival antakshari team to launch into Abhi na jaao chhod kar. Tanu is in that team, the Tanu who didn’t want him for a husband – and yet he sits opposite her, smiling at her, saving her. But a little later, she launches into the boisterous Kajra mohabbat wala, a song where the heroine wore the pants (or at least the Pathan suit). Tanu may be a resident of Sayaniland too, but not for her the moony waltzes of Rafi. She is a doer, a go-getter, a free spirit, and a complete contrast to the staid, soft-spoken Manu. Remove the songs from the older era, and we’re back in Imtiaz Aliland, specifically Jab We Met, where a man of few words ran into a force of nature who’d change his life forever.
That Tanu will finally come around to Manu is a given – the film is, after all, titled Tanu Weds Manu. What’s less certain is why we should care. The opening stretch is mildly involving, with engaging performances and creepy-sweet moments like the one where a smitten Manu photographs an unconscious Tanu and then quickly looks around to check that he hasn’t been spotted. (Given the director Aanand L Rai’s penchant for underlining passion with old hits like Kabhi aar kabhi paar and Aankhon hi aankhon mein, I half-expected a radio set nearby to erupt into a Rafi number filmed over a similarly smitten man and a similarly unconscious woman: Chaudhvin ka chand ho.) But soon, Raja (Jimmy Shergill) makes an appearance, and the laidback romcom reconfigures itself into a turgid love triangle. The hitherto rebellious Tanu is reduced to – to take another instance from Sayaniland – Vyjayanthimala in Sangam, waiting piteously for her destiny to be decided as two friends clash over her. There’s even a gun that makes its appearance in the climax. The songs on the radio, however, have long since disappeared.
Copyright ©2011 The New Sunday Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Rahul
February 27, 2011
Half an hour into the movie I thought I will have at least as much fun as Band Baja Baraat. This movie gets a lot of small details correct, and by virtue of that , it gives this story which has a very basic template an X-factor. Every supporting character is real and lovingly portrayed; even the girls that Manu goes to see after Tanu are written with detail. The authenticity reflects in everything – the cinematography , the makeup , the accent , the language used – and yet the regional flavor of the characters and the settings is not allowed to override the story/movie. For eg. the Bihari friend of Kangna does not wear her ethnicity on her sleeve, but there is a definite hint of an urban Bihari accent.
That is the kind of attention that one does not expect from your regular weekend romcom.
If only the love story was as mature as BBB!I like Maddy but his character was underwritten , I believe.Ok, I get it that he fell in love, but why does he have to be so depressed all the time? At one time it felt like his character sucked the life out of this movie.Perhaps the single noteness of his character was necessary to achieve the Karan Joharish trajectory the movie was aiming for in the second half.
But seriously, again , if you can start like Band Baja Baraat why do you want to end like Kal Ho Na Ho?
LikeLike
bran1gan
February 27, 2011
Rahul: Even the detailing became increasingly less rewarding. I like your one-liner comment: “if you can start like Band Baja Baraat why do you want to end like Kal Ho Na Ho?”
LikeLike
Avinash
February 28, 2011
Liked ur review. It emotes d same feelings which I had while watching d film. Nicely woven story in d 1st half,is messed up in 2nd half. It had gr8 music. N d supporting actor in d role of Puppy was brilliant. D film cudve been better!
LikeLike
Nothinglastsforever
March 1, 2011
@Rahul:
What’s wrong with Kal Ho Na Ho?
LikeLike
Vikram K Singh
March 1, 2011
Film entertained me.
LikeLike
Krishna
March 2, 2011
Haven’t seen the movie yet.
Heard the songs though… ‘Piya’ by Roopkumar Rathod (no, not Shafqat) is beautiful. Great sounds by theis new fellow, Krsna.
They have messed up the credits on the cd cover though. 🙂
LikeLike
prasun
March 14, 2011
How long has been Ameen Sayani off the air? 15 years? When I think of Ameen Sayani being on the air, I can only remember songs from late 80s/early 90s.
Even in small town India, there are at least 4-5 FM stations and the “transistor” has been replaced by the cellphone playing mp3s (in speaker mode!). Rafi and Kishore (and Mukesh) aren’t as ubiquitous as they were even 7-8 years ago.
I haven’t seen the entire movie, but I hope Swara Bhaskar gets noticed. Would love to see her in a Abhay Deol/Anurag Kashyap type movie.
LikeLike
Heather Wilson
March 30, 2011
Thanks for a great review. I didn’t have high hopes for this film I must admit – I’m not a fan of Kangana, but I have to say she was pretty good in the first half. And having managed to catch my interest and make me begin to hope that it was going to be a reasonable time pass, it just all fell apart in the second half – badly! Manu’s eternal suffering and misery was wearing and Tanu was just irritating! Thankfully there was still Pappi who managed to bring some much needed cheer into the proceedings.
Still, compared to some of the recent offerings from Hindi cinema, it was at least watchable to the end 🙂
LikeLike
Sev
June 23, 2013
I’m one of the few who was unmoved by Jab We Met and loved TWM, maybe because I find Kangana to be a far superior actress to Kareena. Kareena seemed to be on some sort of anti-depressants while portraying the character of Geet. Her performance had that one-note gaiety that felt so contrived. The only thing slightly annoying about Kangana is her diction. It doesn’t help that I really don’t care for Imtiaz Ali’s writing or his direction. He’s up there with Karan Johar and Yash Chopra/Aditya in my list of over-glorified, mediocre talents.
I also identified with Madhavan’s character, his loneliness as an introverted, shy ex-patriate and the ever-growing feeling of vulnerability as he faces the prospect of aging alone, as a bachelor. He’s not the cassanova who’s always delighted in playing the field and is wary of commitment; one can sense that he always thought of himself as being happily in love and married before he hit 30, and now he’s probably into his early thirties without ever having been on a date, much less a relationship. Were we to not see him married to Tanu, and follow his life over the next decade or so of his life, I sense he’d probably grow into his solitude and become more accepting of his life as a single man. I can see him relishing watching old movies, reading novels and even spiritual tomes, and undertake philanthropic endeavours. I’m not sure how Tanu’s character would age- will she loose her moorings as she looses her youthful looks and the popularity that came with it? Will she turn into an immature, unsettling middle-aged woman who seems no match for the calmer, more-dignified Manu? These are interesting questions to me, and continue to pop up in my head every time I re-watch the film, which to me is an indicator that the film has managed to entertain me thoroughly. It’s also interesting to speculate on an alternate ending such as one in which Manu over-grows his fondness for Tanu, re-discovers the joys of solitude and self-reflection, and happily joins the baraat as Tanu marries her boyfriend (a more suitable match as far as their personalities go).
LikeLike