By Vishnu Mahesh Sharma
Major Spoilers Ahead…
There was a time when Hindi cinema used to come up with films which can be put in a genre called ‘Muslim Social Drama’. Majority of the characters used to be Muslims having Hindu best friends; they used to speak very likable Urdu and wear Shervanis and Shararas. A few notable and successful features to come out of this genre are Mehboob Ki Mehandi , Nikaah and Chaudahvi Ka Chand. Tiku Weds Sheru admirably attempts to recall this, seemingly dead and forgotten genre, to life.
The producer of this film, Kangana Ranaut, held a successful rom com film franchise Tanu Weds Manu (whose title this film resembles). That franchise had a fierce and rebel without cause girl as its lead protagonist. This protagonist ended up realizing her love for a person who was polar opposite of hers in every possible aspect. Some of those elements are quite visible in this film as well.
The inspiration from Tanu Weds Manu is not limited to the title and titular characters. The film very consciously and melodiously borrows a musical touch as well. In TWM, there was a Mohit Chauhan number (“Kitne dafe dil ne kaha“) that did’t follow the rhythm of a conventional Hindi song but was more a musical one sided conversation. Similarly, here also we have a Mohit Chauhan number (“Tum se mil ke yun laga“) that has lines not rhyming all the time and the song better serves as a musical love letter.
Talking of inspiration, consider this synopsis “A young girl, in a relationship with a married man, gets into a conditional arrange marriage set up with her hidden motifs. On the other side, the boy she is married to is also not a simple guy next door that he appears to be. Both of them navigates through this forced marriage and face some heart breaks and deceit just to accept each other in the end”. Rings a bell?? This synopsis is as much about Kanu Bahl’s Titli as it is about Tiku Weds Sheru.
Putting all things together, Tiku Weds Sheru is a Titli-esque gritty tale retold through the lenses of TWM’s small town romance withing the old template of Muslim Social Dramas helmed by a writer-director whose strongest hold in his last film was quirkiness and idiosyncrasies of characters. The end result is a partly, partly funny, partly quirky and partly emotional romantic drama that is earnest and sincere in its intention.
Though all these partlies don’t work all the time. There are scenes and elements which feel forced into the narrative. Nawazudding Siddiqui’s Sheru dealing in drugs, for instance, seems very awkward and ill fitted. So does Avneet Kaur’s Tiku falling into a prostitution racket which feels very sudden and shocking (shocking, not in a good sense). But to the credit of writing team and director, on either side of these ill executed sequences, the screenplay is half filled with scenes those are full of moments of warmth, comedy, heart breaks and moving romantic track. Plus, the weaker portions of the story are dealt with at a fast pace and that helps, a bit, the cause of the film. This crisp editing helps the film in keeping the focus (focussed at becoming a good khichadi of different genres) intact which otherwise could have gone in any direction considering the range of films it takes inspiration from.
Some of the simplest written pieces are the most shining ones. How cannot one admire the sweet little scene in which the eyes of the hero sets, not on the heroine, but on a mirror reflection of the heroine. While the hero falls at mere reflection of the heroine, the heroine doesn’t pay any heed to hero’s presence. Her disdain for him is as utter as it can get. The film has quite a few such sequences which ooze this inherent innocence and honesty of the flawed lead pair. The impact is magnified multifold when these portions are performed by actor like Nawaz complemented brilliantly by a very promising debutant Avneet Kaur.
Take a notice of Kaur in a scene in which she is auditioning for a role. In this audition we see strength and resolve (channelizing her inner modern Manikarnika) in her character. But in the scenes just before and after this scene we see her vulnerability, frustration and helplessness. At both extremes of emotional spectrum, she holds on her own. The casting of an actor as secured as Nawaz, against such a fine debutant works wonders for most of the second half Sheru is absent from the screen. However, and unsurprisingly so, whenever Nawaz is on the screen, he is a cracker in comic portions and a bubble ready to burst in moments of fleeting rage. In a minor moment, when one of his girls ditches him for a rich client, subtle change in his facial expression just melts our hearts.
Though the climactic part seems straight out of the climax of Mirzapur Season One, but here the ending is happy. Considering that minutes, in installments, are provided to smaller characters at regular intervals to complete their arcs at the end, this violent cum musical staging never comes across as unwarranted and misfit., contrary, this enhances the quirky flavor to some extent.
An old and classic wine grows on you very slowly but we, always, don’t go for classics. Sometimes all we need is a cocktail that mixes certain drinks and juices in certain ratio to give us an instant high. Tiku Weds Sheru, in no way, is an original or ambitious attempt but it just so knows that which borrowed elements need to be amalgamated in what amount to deliver a film that leaves a smile (though not a broad one) on your face and in doing so, gives you a few moments of characteristic eccentricities, emotional high and lows and laughter. It may not be refreshing, nonetheless, it is an easy breezy funny quirky romantic watch which delivers what is expected from it.