Even before a grossly unconvincing twist derived from a popular multi-season web series (in which one of the actors in this film plays the lead) pops up towards the end, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari has ‘mismatched’ written all over it. Now we aren’t just talking about its central premise — of two ditched exes seeking to win over their respective former partners who are marrying each other at their destination wedding (yes, confusion hi confusion hain, solution ka pata nahin) — but of Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari as a whole.

First, let’s get something significant out of the way. Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari is not a film. Anything with a title as long and lame is anyway trying too hard. This is a hardcore Dharma-coded 135-minute-long endeavour in which the semblance of a plot (or not) feebly emerges from within numerous song ’n’ dance sequences, jokes that don’t land and tons and tons of shiny designer wear.

In the middle of it are “middle-class” representatives Sunny (Varun Dhawan) and Tulsi (Janhvi Kapoor), who have been dumped by their affluent partners, Ananya (Sanya Malhotra) and Vikram (Rohit Saraf). Ananya and Vikram — who met through an arranged marriage set-up in Italy — are now getting hitched and Sunny’s plan, along with Tulsi, is to drive a wedge between the two and win them over once more.

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari is not the first time we are being made to watch such a ‘concept’ on screen, and it surely won’t be the last. But what we are subjected to in this film of mismatches is a mish-mash of almost every Karan Johar project — the helicopter sequence of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the geek- to-gorg transformation in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and director Shashank Khaitan’s own films Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania. In fact, Varun — who has overdone the small-town, rough-around-the-edges, goofy boy with a golden heart role by now — seems to have walked straight out of the cold storage of the aforementioned Dulhania films.

But even when Sanskari mouths some ear bleed-inducing “poetry” — “Ananya, Ananya, Ananya... socha tha tum ho biryani... lekin tum nikli gobhi dhaniya” — Varun still manages to rise above his familiar character, attempting to inject it with some level of freshness, both in its punny and poignant moments.

The same, however, can’t be said about Janhvi. In a film brimming with genuine talent — both Sanya and Rohit are criminally underutilised — Janhvi stands out like a sore thumb. That has less to do with Janhvi’s presence and more with the absence of Alia Bhatt, who lit up the Dulhania films even in their most problematic parts. The fact that Janhvi is made to spout eco-unfriendly lines like: “Agar tum chattaan ho toh main global warming hoon... pighal jaoge”, does her no favours. The chemistry between Varun and Janhvi — like in their previous film Bawaal — is tepid at best.

Khaitan and Ishita Moitra have written the dialogues of this film. The same duo delivered some crackling lines in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, directed by Johar. But in Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari they seem quite fine with penning what is clearly mediocre content. The last-ditch attempt to push in a women empowerment message is nothing but a tick-all-boxes (and cross your heart and hope to live through it) exercise.

There are, of course, some elements that deserve praise. Manush Nandan’s camerawork is stylish and sweeping, with the music — Tanishk Bagchi, A.P.S., Sachet-Parampara, Guru Randhawa, Rony Ajnali, Gill Machhrai and John Stewart Eduri all dip fingers and toes into the score — delivering chart-toppers like Bijuria, Panwadi and Tu hai meri.

While the side players are all reduced to cardboard cutouts (Akshay Oberoi gets a raw deal as the bade bhaiya equivalent of Rocky’s dad in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani), Maniesh Paul and Abhinav Sharma are the only actors who grab attention. Now that’s a bromance we wouldn’t mind watching more of.

Sustainability may be the buzzword and nostalgia may be scoring high at the moment, but when it comes to cinema, freshness is what counts. We want more. We deserve more. Not a recycled rip-off like Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari.

I liked/ didnt like Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari because...
Tell t2@abp.in