This doesn't feel like its an Anurag Kashyap film, because its not a poetry of darkness, but a sugary premise of love triangle which has been garnished a little by its own chilli flakes. There is a girl, her purposed husband and her 'Fyaar' partner. Not only the film effectively tackles the modern issues of love, but it also heartfelt and character-built. I enjoyed the performances of Taapsee Pannu, Abhishek Bachchan and the extremely talented Vicky Kaushal as Rumi, Robby and Sandhu respectively. The script meanders a little in the second half, but still Kanika Dhillon makes even that work with her writing.

Just a week back, I was profusely praising Anurag Kashyap for his brilliant performance in "Imaikka Nodigal" & the maestro was back this week in his director's apparel for "Manmarziyaan". From the trailer, it was kinda evident that it’s quite unlike what Anurag has worked with in the past & that in itself excited me further. Interestingly, the movie featured Abhishek Bachchan who is back after a two-year break (“to re-energise” as per what he said; hmm, so it wasn’t due to lack of movies???). Anywaz his success rate as a solo hero has been patchy, pretty much like Sri Lanka’s abysmal record since Sanga & Mahela retired. So, will his movie follow the fate of the Lankans in the Asia Cup???



Rumi (Taapsee Pannu) is an attractive, bold & free-spirited Punjabi kudi who was madly in love with the equally crazy & bindaas Vicky Sandhu (Vicky Kaushal). The latter was a DJ who aspired for a successful music career though he didn’t seem to work hard for it, while Rumi oversaw her family’s sports goods store. Their affair was known to everyone in the locality & her family after having caught them goofing around started searching alliances for her. However, Rumi’s adamancy forces them to offer some time to her, so that Vicky could seek his folks’ permission to ask her hand in marriage. But with Vicky being apprehensive of commitment, Rumi decided to tie the knot with Robbie Bhattia (Abhishek Bachchan), a UK based banker that her family had chosen for her. The question was whether Rumi & Vicky could forget everything & get on with their new lives or will Robbie be handed out a raw deal???



Nowadays, we hardly come across directors who works in more than two projects in a single year & interestingly, “Manmarziyaan” happened to be Anurag’s third directorial venture this year after “Mukkabaaz” & “Lust Stories”. Unlike his previous movies, this hasn’t been scripted by him as it was by Kanika Dhillon who had earlier written the screenplay for “Ra One” & “Size Zero” (Telugu/Tamil). It might sound odd, but I felt like this was the 2018 version of “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” with carnal instincts being more prominent. Despite having a running time of 155 minutes, it still manages to keep us engaged for large portions especially in the first half. Apart from Anurag’s decent direction & Sylvester Fonseca’s visuals, there are two major reasons which makes this movie work & those are the cast as well as Amit Trivedi’s excellent music. The latter has undoubtedly produced the best soundtrack among all the movies that has released this year.



Ever since “Pink” released a couple of years back, Taapsee has consistently impressed with her choice of scripts & praise worthy performances. She was brilliant as the vivacious Rumi & should be in pole position to claim a couple of awards for the best actress. Equally impressive was Vicky Kaushal who floored me yet again after “Sanju” & has been consistently churning out good performances. Last but not the least, Abhishek has done a fine job as well with his ability to convey emotions convincingly through expressions. The rest of the cast have all also done their parts aptly.



Verdict: As per the latest box offices, the film made credible collections over the opening weekend making it the biggest in Anurag’s career (who usually barely make it beyond 10 C). I don’t think it will make much of an impact on the single screens & will have to depend on multiplexes for the revenue. However, it’s worth a watch & I would suggest that you guys should give it a try!!!



Rating: 2.75/5



Regards…Ben