‘TU JHOOTHI MAIN MAKKAAR’
By
KOMAL NAHTA
T-Series Films and Luv Films’ Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (UA) is a romcom and a family drama. Mickey (Ranbir Kapoor) is a Romeo. He lives with his mother (Dimple Kapadia), father (Boney Kapoor), paternal grandmother (Jatinder Kaur), sister (Hasleen Kaur), brother-in-law (Amber Rana) and niece Sweetu (Inayat Verma). Mickey’s bosom pal is Dabas (Anubhav Singh Bassi). Mickey meets a bold girl, Tinni (Shraddha Kapoor), and falls head over heels in love with her. The two get into a relationship, but cracks soon develop and the two drift apart. They come face-to-face after a fairly long period. Will the jhoothi and the makkaar kiss and make up or is their relationship beyond repair?
The above is only the basic plot line. The characters of Mickey and Tinni are not being explained in more detail here as that would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that the drama has been written as a romantic comedy but the family plays an integral part of the romcom. When the real family drama begins in the latter part of the second half, the film takes a serious and emotional turn, raising an issue which is very contemporary. That track gives such an important message that the light entertainer becomes a weighty film with a fantastic message too.
Luv Ranjan’s story idea is very novel and the same goes for the story penned by Rahul Mody and Luv Ranjan. The duo’s screenplay is so outstanding that it doesn’t give the audience even a minute to think or a second to get bored. The comedy is so outstanding that the drama progresses seamlessly and smoothly. The viewers laugh almost non-stop till the drama takes a serious and emotional turn in the latter part of the second half. That’s the time the weak-hearted among the audience will shed tears. But the film again takes a comic turn, with the sequence in which Mickey’s family heads to the airport, being a laugh riot. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the screenplay is so flawless that the film can be used as a textbook on how to write an effective screenplay. What, perhaps, will give the film a long run at the box-office is that by the time it comes to an end, every female in the audience will have fallen in love with Mickey: every girl of marriageable age will dream of a husband like Mickey, every mother-in-law-to-be will hope that her son-in-law turns out to be like Mickey, every mother will pray for a son like Mickey, and every sister will want her brother to be like Mickey.
Rahul Mody and Luv Ranjan’s dialogues are simply marvellous. The comic dialogues evoke laughter in every scene while the emotional and dramatic ones are very weighty and touch the heart a great deal.
Ranbir Kapoor endears himself to the audience right from the time he comes on the screen for the first time. He performs so brilliantly that it would appear that he was born to play this role. In the scene in which he breaks down in front of his family, the viewers would yearn to give him a bear hug and cry with him. His dances are grace personified. Shraddha Kapoor looks ravishing in costumes which do justice to her sexy figure. She acts with such confidence that this film will take her to a different league. Her dances are beautiful. Anubhav Singh Bassi (as Mickey’s friend, Dabas) makes a phenomenal debut. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he makes the audience laugh in every scene in which he delivers a dialogue. His debut will win him millions of fans and will become a memorable performance. Dimple Kapadia springs a fantastic surprise with a mind-blowing performance as a loud Punjaban. Jatinder Kaur is oh-so-endearing as Mickey’s paternal grandmother. Inayat Verma proves to be a darling as Mickey’s little niece, Sweetu. Her dialogues evoke a lot of laughter. Boney Kapoor entertains very well in the climax sequence. Hasleen Kaur stands her own as Mickey’s sister. Monica Chaudhary has her moments as Dabas’ girlfriend/wife, Kinchi. In a friendly appearance, Kartik Aaryan will endear himself to his millions of fans. The audience will not be able to stop laughing in the entire sequence in which he appears. Nushrat Bharucha is also wonderful in a friendly appearance. Rajesh Jais (as Tinni’s father), Ayesha Raza Mishra (as Tinni’s mother), Rahul Vora (as Tinni’s paternal uncle), Renuka Sharma (as Tinni’s paternal aunt), P.K. Kapoor (as Tinni’s grandfather), and Amber Rana (as Mickey’s brother-in-law) lend decent support in roles that give them limited scope.
Luv Ranjan’s direction is remarkable. He proves yet again that when it comes to films about human relationships, he is second to none. In fact, with this film, he proves that there is not even a close second. He seems to understand the public pulse so well that he knows what the public wants, at what stage and in what measure, and serves them accordingly. Pritam’s music is fantastic. The Tere pyar mein song is a super-hit already. The O Bedardeya song will soon become a super-hit. The other songs are very entertaining. Song picturisations (all, except one, by Bosco-Caesar; Show me the thumka song by Ganesh Acharya) are lovely. Hitesh Sonik’s background music is simply outstanding. Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran’s cinematography is first-rate. Production designing (by Shashank Tere, Dipankar Dasgupta and Manini Mishra) is superb. Editing (by Akiv Ali and Chetan M. Solanki) is super-sharp.
On the whole, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is a super-blockbuster. There’s just no stopping the film at the ticket windows. The film also has tremendous repeat value because of the content and the music.
To be released today (8-3-’23) at Regal (daily 4 shows), Inox (daily 17 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Yash Raj Film Distributors. Publicity: excellent. Opening: expected to be very good (in spite of being adversely affected due to the Holi holiday in some states having been exhausted on 7-3-’23 instead of today). …….Also released all over. Opening is expected to be very good everywhere.
