Venue: PVR Director’s Cut, Vasant Kunj
Date: February 2018

Bollywood has stayed away from experiments for as long as we remember. But when it comes to making experimental cinema it gets clichéd very easily. Clichéd in a way that new experiments are all about issues that are thought provoking or topics that are not talked about. For example Padman talks about sanitary issues and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan discusses erectile dysfunction.

Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety stands out from this genre of cinema as it is an experiment with a topic that is neither thought provoking nor based on a social issue. In fact what makes this film a delight to watch is that the film has entertainment at its core.

This may not be the first Bollywood film with male bonding as the theme. Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara have already explored that territory. But while these films had male bonding parallel to regular boy girl romance, Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety goes where male bonding scores over boy-girl romance.

The film is about Sonu and Titu – two best friends where Sonu is overprotective about the simpleton Titu. Titu keeps falling for wrong girls and Sonu saves him like knight in shining armour. Finally Titu falls for a girl who is too good to be true and Sonu decides to save his friend from this wedding. What happens next is Bollywood style wedding saga full of song, dance, emotions et cetera. The climax is a surprise and is probably the highlight of the film. The ending is unapologetically and unabashedly non Bollywood and we give brownie points to the director and writer to be bold enough to explore that.

From the star cast, the actors Kartik Aaryan and Sunny Nijhar who played Sonu and Titu shine above every other star in the film. We loved Titu’s simpleton act and how he effortlessly downplays his character.

What may not work for this film is the weak supporting cast. Bollywood wedding films cannot do without a very strong supporting cast (read mama, chacha, uncle, sister, friend and friend ka friend). But this film’s supporting cast doesn’t help in taking the story forward. The grandfather, played by Alok Nath and Virendra Saxena, his friend, may have entertained but somehow we found them to be complete eye sores. Alok Nath’s desperate attempt to break the “Sanskari Babuji” image seems a bit of a put on does not help the film at all.

The movie would have been as impactful as it is now without the swear words and the redundant *hutiya every now and then.

The song, music and dance actually make it very apt weekend watch. And the story line has surprised everybody. The movie is path breaking in a way that entertaining films can also have new story lines and they don’t have to be boring or thought provoking or convey a social message or even socially acceptable.

Absence of any big Bollywood star makes it quite a relief and we were happy to have watched it at PVR Director’s Cut munching 4700 BC popcorn and gorging on sushi by Simply Sushi

Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety is not what we expected – it was off – and how – in a Fun-Do style we say.