Movie Review: Tanu Weds Manu (Hindi) 125

The movie tagline calls it a celebration of a perfect mismatch. They achieve this by casting a seemingly opposite actors, an unbridled Kangana as Tanu paired with a soft spoken Madhavan as Manu. It promises romance with a bit of comedy.

Keen on arranging a marriage, Manu, an NRI doctor is taken by his parents to meet Tanu at Kanpur. Strage as it may seem, Manu nods a yes to a knocked out Tanu and loses his heart to her. While the families set the wedding ball rolling, Tanu asks a heartbroken Manu to cancel the marriage since she is already in love.

Not keen on choosing another girl, Manu is all set to leave the country. Just then, a wedding invite takes him to Punjab where he meets Tanu by chance. This time though, she plays him on, but asking him to be there when she weds her man. The rest of the story unfolds as it travels between Delhi, Punjab, Lucknow and Kanpur.

But since the title tells us that Tanu would wed Manu, an alternate ending was unlikely. But, going by the endless twists that the movie has, I wouldn’t have been really surprised if Kangana’s Tanu disappeared with a third guy in the end!

But, one can’t really call them a mismatched couple. Though different in outwardly ways, the characters seek something that they find in each other. A rebellious Tanu wanted someone who would accept her with her wild ways while a demure Manu led such a boring life that he wanted someone spontaneous enough to spice it up.

Among the leads, the queen of ‘Girl, Interrupted’ roles, Kangana Ranaut comes across as a natural; her foul lines, brashness and brazenly being a potheaded drunkard are precise. Madhavan as her doormat does fine, but his role came with limitations.

Some of its best comic moments, though come from Deepak Dobriyal’s ‘Pappi’, Madhavan’s friend and sidekick. His comic timing with the ‘Jai Mata Di’ chants when Manu describes his discovery of the true Tanu is hilarious. On the other hand, Jimmy Shergill as the goon ‘Raja’ is overdone and sticks out like a sore thumb.

To sum up, while the first half of ‘Tanu weds Manu’ is thoroughly watchable for the ‘I don’t traverse the beaten path’ style, the second half is extremely boring. I wish the film makers had found a way around to keep it live till the end; but they don’t.

Rating 5/10: An entertaining beginning but a boring second half