Suraj
Pe Mangal Bhari Movie Review: With Diljit Dosanjh, Manoj Bajpayee| Release in
Theater
Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari Movie Review
Suraj
Pe Mangal Bhari Movie Review
When
American critic Gene Siskel disliked a film, the question he asked was: Is this film more interesting than a
documentary of the same actors having lunch together? Over years, I’ve applied the Gene Siskel test
to many films and I’m afraid Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari doesn’t pass. I’m certain that it would be more interesting
to watch Manoj Bajpayee, Diljit Dosanjh, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Seema and
Manoj Pahwa, Supriya Pilgaonkar and
Fatima Sana Shaikh dine together, than it is to actually see this film. I went in with enthusiasm.
I can get behind any film in which Diljit
looks into the camera and says, ‘Hi
Peoples.’ He plays Suraj, a 28-year-old
desperate to get married. The actor works like an energizing shot of goofy
charm and adrenaline. You have no option
but to smile. His signature Punjabi
liveliness contrasts nicely with Manoj, who mines his tightly-wound intensity
for laughs. Manoj plays Madhu Mangal
Rane, a private detective, who specializes in investigating prospective grooms. He is a master of disguise on a mission to
ensure that no woman settles for a substandard spouse. Mangal wrecks one of Suraj’s rishtas. So Suraj decides to take revenge by romancing
Mangal’s sister Tulsi, who has some secrets of her own. It’s a set-up with potential, but director
Abhishek Sharma, who earlier made Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive and The Zoya
Factor, botches it up.
Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari saddles its solid cast
with lame jokes, inane plot twists and dull storytelling. The film is set in the 90s, but it also feels
like it was made then. It’s almost as if
conversations about sexism or mental health, totally eluded the writing team of
Shokhi Banerjee and Rohan Shankar. So
OCD, which can be debilitating to live with, is fodder for comedy. We are supposed to find a character who's constantly
straightening chairs and cutlery, funny.
In the battle of wills between Suraj and Mangal, the women become
instruments of revenge.
The dialogue will make you cringe. In one scene, one character is revealing to
another that his wife is having an affair.
He says:;Gaaye aapki hai aur ghee koi aur khaa raha
hai;. And the unkindest cut –
both Supriya and Manoj are in their early 50s, but she is playing his mother. It’s ridiculous. Manoj and Diljit have talent to burn and they
infuse some fun into the threadbare material.
In an early scene, Manoj is disguised as a Maharashtrian woman, with a
nauvari sari and nose ring. His coquettish
mannerisms are wonderfully over-the-top.
We are told that Mangal was an actor in his youth. Another character describes him as ‘Punar
janam ka frustrated actor, aur woh bhi overacting karta rehta hai.’ Mangal is now fulfilling his acting dreams
but as a detective – it’s a clever idea, which gets buried.
Diljit
gets a few fun dialogues – Suraj doesn’t speak English very well. At one point, he says, “I talk ghanta in
English,’ meaning that he can talk for hours in English. But that’s about as good as the film gets. I’m not sure why the story was set in the
90s. Apart from bringing back pagers, Abhishek
doesn’t exploit the time period much. Suraj
Pe Mangal Bhari also includes a DDLJ-style chase sequence at a railway station. Now I am as big a lover of that film as the
next person, but can I make a personal request to directors to just let it go. It’s been twenty-five years. Even as comedy,
it doesn’t work. The happier news is
that Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari is releasing in theaters. If you do decide to go, wear a mask and stay
safe.
Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari
Director: Abhishek
Sharma
Suraj
Pe Mangal Bhari Movie 2020 Star Cast
Ø Diljit Dosanjh
Ø Manoj Bajpayee
Ø Fatima Sana Shaikh
Ø Abhishek Banerjee
Ø Vijay Raaz
Ø Karishma Tanna
Ø Neha Pandse
Ø Annu Kapoor
Ø Seema Bhargva
Ø Manjoj Pahwa
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