Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar
Aur Hum Sab Chu*** for watching this film.
(When in Luv Ranjan world….)
After the nicely done debut film, Pyar Ka Punchnama (2011), and the very popular Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018), Luv Ranjan comes with a complete howler in his latest big-star Bollywood production.
TJMM (an acronym that will not catch on for sure) is a story about Mickey Arora (Ranbir), running his family businesses (a ‘lala’, as is pointed out clearly in the film), and a side gig of helping couples break up amicably for a fee, along with his friend Manu (the famous mandatory social media influencer needed in every film now, Anubhav). When he falls in love with Tinni Malhotra (Shraddha) on the most cliched European holiday, everything is a fairy tale story, till the twist when his now fiancé Tinni hires his services to break up their relationship, before the wedding. What follows at first is a cat-and-mouse game of one-upmanship between the two, followed by lots of emotional drama around the ethos of living with family vs. being independent, eventually ending in the completely fresh idea of an airport chase, to hold her back before she leaves the country!
To give credit where it’s due, and true to his name, Luv understands the nuances, the trials and tribulations of love and romance among the youth today. We’ve seen it in his previous films and loved him for it. But his biggest limitation is he truly gets only the perspective of young men. His biggest strength is his biggest falling, and that is what is in full display in this film. The core of the story of this film is based on what Tinni feels and wants. She is the one who creates the twist in the love story. She is the one who doesn’t want to live ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ with Mickey. She is the one that triggers the conflict which is the central plot line of the film. The film is about Tinny, not about Mickey. But Luv can’t help telling Tinni’s story through the eyes of Mickey. Worse, he can’t stop himself from showing Tinni’s emotions also only through Mickey’s perspective. Pyar ka Punchnama and Sonu Ke Titu were both guy stories, and they worked. TJMM is a couple’s story and it bombs. Luv, you should stick to the frustrated and emotionally immature young men's storytelling that is your forte (and we love you for that). If we want to watch an authentic love story that has “two” people in a relationship, we will watch Imtiaz Ali.
Again to be fair, we can’t only blame Luv for the disaster. He is let down by both his main leads. Ranbir Kapoor is a mojo-less, stoned-out, hamming version of the talented young man we saw in Rockstar, YJHD, Bachna Haseeno, Barfi, Tamasha, Sanju. Shraddha Kapoor is, well, Shradhha Kapoor. Anubhav Bassi may be a talented stand-up, but is a nothing-performer in this film. Dimple Kapadia, as Mickey’s modern-day Punjabi mom is so over-the-top, that you feel embarrassed for her. And the rest of the cast, including the ghost of Boney Kapoor (dad), the trying-too-hard-for-screen-time Hasleen Kaur (sister), the annoyingly-precocious child artist Inayat Verma (niece) are at best background cacophony.
Again to be fair, there were two good ideas in the film that had potential. The idea of an ‘amicable break-up service’ is a cool contemporary idea for a generation that is struggling with finding love and living in a reality that the search for the right partner involves a journey of multiple hookups and breakups, as par for the course. A service that allows you to go through this journey with minimum emotional damage and baggage is a fabulous idea, bordering on almost social service, you could argue. Also, the idea of the conflict of modern-day urban couples seeking independence vs. living connected with their families is a relevant topic to engage with. But, alas, both these ideas are lost as they intertwine with each other in a forced, inauthentic, and unemotional way. As a result, we don’t know what to feel, who to feel for, and how to feel. And it just ends up becoming a flurry of lots of clever-sounding dialogues, loud artificial sets, colours and costumes, terrible songs and dances with Ranbir and Shraddha over-performing, (though the audio soundtrack of the film is not as bad), and an ensemble of the cast going in and out of scenes that don’t make any impact.
So half the year 2023 is gone, and apart from Pathaan, Bollywood hasn’t put out a really good proper fare yet. We are still hoping. We are still rooting. We are ready. Come on Bollywood, you can do it!
