A heartwarming story of Mauji (Varun Dhawan) and Mamta (Anushka Sharma) and how they together change their collective fate from that of near-poverty to a successful business venture.
#SuiDhaaga. The story is pretty formulaic. Mauji is the classic underdog, constantly taunted by his father for being a good-for-nothing, continuously humiliated by his employers, and largely disrespected by his friends, family and the world around him. Yet, he has the talent of sewing that is under-leveraged. Mamta is a regular housewife, who is caught up in the daily chores of the home, duty-bound to her father-in-law and mother-in-law and husband. Yet, she has the talent of street-smartness and a knack for business that is also under-leveraged. When certain unhappy events trigger Maui to set up and taste the success of his own sewing venture, the journey begins of Maui and Mamta transforming from being a joint family ‘beta-bahu’ to unknowing entrepreneurs. Braving failures, battling their own circumstances, stumbling through the system, they keep going till they can finally mean when they say ‘sab badhiya hai’.
But, like some of the other recent Bollywood movies, the strength of this movie also does not come from its storyline. This movie rests on the characters and their emotions, that are really well played by the lead actors Varun and Anushka and the inimitable Raghubir Yadav (who plays Mauji’s father). These three actors win your hearts through their endearing performances playing characters that are really well sketched.
The characters are unique in that they are traditional-yet-progressive. Make no mistake. Mauji, Mamta and the father do not belong to modern India, in the way we know it. They are just above poverty, they live in almost rural fringes of the city, in a patriarchal household, the men wear kurtas, the women wear saris, the men earn a living and the women stay at home, and all of this in a no-questions-asked this-is-how-it-is way. Yet, within the household, the traditional roles that they all play sometimes only seem like a pragmatic division of labour, rather than a regressive social structure. In Mauji, we see a man who respects his wife’s intellect and instead of being threatened by her, relies on her to increase his own self-awareness and what he is capable of. In Mamta, we see a woman, who knows her mind and has the wisdom to know when and how to use it for the benefit of her family, finding a win-win solution. Even in the father, we see an apparent patriarch, who values his wife and daughter-in-law for what they bring to their home, and is willing to step into washing clothes, making rotis, and do whatever is needed without any false male ego.
The movie also makes you feel the struggle that people, who don’t belong to the middle class, face on a day-to-day basis, and yet go through it smiling, with hope for a better future. The movie reminds you of the herculean efforts they have to make for just an equal opportunity to participate in the growth that is happening in the country. The movie comments on the intensely capitalist society, where the pursuit of money, that is often mistaken as development, is leaving millions of people behind, even those with skills, crafts and talents. The movie also (not so subtly) plugs in the national agenda of skilling, manufacturing and Made in India, as the title suggests, but not in a very Akshay-Kumar-I-am-a-patriot way.
But, with all that, the biggest fault in the movie that is it’s undoing, is the Yash-Raj-Adi-Chopra effect that keeps popping through the movie, but especially takes over in the build-up to the climax. For a movie that builds so naturally, in the beginning, it starts getting too fairy-tale’ish towards the end. For instance, complex relations and characters that were built (like the strained relationship with the brother and his family or the mercenary fashion designer) are quickly resolved or stereotyped to find a convenient ending. Things like this disappoint and end up leaving you a little cold after all the warmth that is built through the entire film. It’s like a sudden sip of water after you’ve sipped a nice cup of warm tea for several minutes. At that point, you feel like telling the director (and Adi Chopra) that it’s okay... let the pain linger a bit more, let the burn of the tongue stay for a while, we can take the absence of a ‘pixie dust’ sometimes. It’s not the 90s anymore!
All in all, after Dum Lagake Haisha, Sharat Kataria (director) gives another emotional, easy, heart-warming, character-based film about a society, seen through the lens of a man and a woman and what they build together. For that, it’s worth a watch, either on big screen or small. Just be prepared for the cold water towards the end.
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