Why and what the heck? These two questions usually sum up Luv Ranjan films and it is no different for Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. So, instead of the gorgeous locales, perfectly sculpted bodies (with zero chemistry) and eardrum-hurting music (except for the Bedardiya song), I would like to focus on these two questions.
Yes, this film is an improvement on his past films like Pyaar Ka Punchnama and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, where the women were conniving and manipulative individuals who drove the men to choose romance over bromance. But not really, because even in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, the man is portrayed as the victim even when the woman is the epitome of everything not conniving and manipulative.
So, here are the whys and what the hecks.
Why are people willing to shell out lakhs of rupees to get “professional” help to get out of a relationship instead of having a conversation? According to TJMM, it is so that the other party doesn’t think that the one doing the break-up is the villain. Therefore, an elaborate ruse is Luv Ranjan’s answer. Because honest conversations are too difficult for the emotionally-constipated men and women in Luv Ranjan’s universe.
What the heck is a five-year-old girl doing, drinking apple juice in a whisky glass along with her mama Mikki (Ranbir Kapoor) and his friend Manu (Anubhav Singh Bassi) — who are actually drinking whisky — as they use foul language and bribe her with bundles of cash. How is that funny or cute?
Why is irresistible equal to verbal diarrhoea in the Luv Ranjan universe? Ranbir’s Mikki is so annoying while trying to woo Shradhha Kapoor’s Tinni, talking incessantly without stopping for a breath, that one would feel the stirrings of a headache rather than attraction. Let’s not forget the fact that he mostly talks about how hot he is or how rich he is. That is charming how?
A woman is allowed to change her mind, so Tinni’s reluctance about a holiday romance with Mikki ends up being a serious enough relationship that she does the meet-the-parents jig the day they come back from Spain. And she wears a kurta, because sanskar is important. But wait, the woke family of the boy are appalled by the fact that the bikini-wearing woman in the photos has worn a kurta to meet them. How backward does the girl think they are?! Mikki is blamed but hey, the man didn’t teach sanskar to the woman. The woman did it all on her own. Why the heck (it deserves the combo) is this important enough to spend runtime on not just once but recurrently?
Mikki’s family is woke, we have established that with the above point. They embrace the girl with open arms, but what the heck happened to boundaries? Mikki’s sister forces Tinni to go to the family gynaecologist instead of her own, his mother (played with a lot of loudness by Dimple Kapadia) casually asks her to leave her job because what’s the point of working so hard? Mikki includes his family on date nights and movie nights.
So, of course Tinni does what any individual will want to do in her place – break up. She needs and wants her own space, her own unit, which would be impossible in the large boisterous family. Why is this — which would not even be a talking point if it were a boy — shown as if it is a problem she has because of her unhappy experience of growing up in a joint family?
Unlike past Luv Ranjan heroines, Tinni doesn’t want to make Mikki choose between her and his family… but she wants to be the good guy and Mikki the bad one. So, instead of telling Mikki how she feels, she hires Mikki (how do two people getting engaged not know how each other sound on the phone?) to help her break up with Mikki. Because… please refer to the first ‘why’.
Why the heck does makkaar playah Mikki suddenly turn into a devoted Sooraj Barjatya family man? Why does he decide to play a game instead of just letting her go? And what the heck were those cringeworthy objectifying cameos? First there is Kartik Aaryan, who is hired by Mikki to make Mikki jealous, and so, Tinni makes him feel her up in public. Then there is Nushrratt Bharuccha, once again hired by Mikki to entice Mikki to slip up, who comes on to her so-called best friend’s fiance and bhola Mikki has to cover his crotch with a bowl of popcorn to save himself from her! And why the heck does heartbreak turn Tinni into a drunk and Mikki into a brooding, moist-eyed Devdas?
Worst of all, why does all’s well that ends well mean Tinni has to give up her job in London and embrace the gregarious family of obnoxiously domineering women? What happened to adjustment? And who says having a life of your own means losing out on family?
And I thought Ranbir Kapoor had outgrown these movies and roles after all these years.
