Manmarziyaan Movie Review: Taapsee Pannu & Vicky Kaushal electrify love, Abhishek Bachchan is like old wine
Manmarziyaan Movie Review: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal's film Manmarziyaan may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a diehard fan of romantic movies, it is a love story worth watching.
Robbie timidly asks his wife Rumi, "Pyaar karti ho mujhse?" To which, Rumi bravely replies, "Ho jaayega pyaar." This is the basic crux of Manmarziyaan, a love story for the hopeless and rebellious romantics. The movie shows us what happens after you fall in love with infatuation or 'Fyaar'. Taapsee Pannu plays Rumi, the young and vibrant woman of age who is madly in 'Fyaar' with the maniacal and uninhibited Vicky (Vicky Kaushal). Vicky has a whole lot of love to give but lacks ambition with failed attempts at engineering and an MBA. The two are careless rebels in love until the 'marriage' tag proves to be a damper in their life. In enters NRI Robbie (Abhishek Bachchan), a banker who is everything Vicky is not and is ready to marry Rumi irrespective of her past.
It's flabbergasting to believe that Anurag Kashyap has directed a pureblood love story, which has all the cliches of classic romances especially Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. However, Anurag gives another life and flavour to a love story set for the millennials. Add in the spices of Kanika Dhillon's writing and we have a romance we can actually relate to. There are the perfect interspersed elements of romance, humour and drama in Manmarziyaan.
Taapsee Pannu starts off with a few glitches and in some scenes, the actress tries too hard. But eventually, she gets consumed and becomes one with Rumi, whose character perfectly meshes with the title of the movie - Manmarziyaan. Her crackling avatar is a treat to watch on-screen but it is Vicky who really steals the show with his charismatic performance. Vicky is someone you love to hate and hate to love. Every commitment phobic Romeo will relate to him.
Abhishek makes his return to Bollywood after two years and we have missed him dearly. Robbie is the opposite of Rumi and Vicky and strikes the perfect balance of calm and composed. It is Abhishek's restrained performance that hooks you in and his eventual confrontation with Rumi is too good a scene to miss. Taapsee's chemistry with Vicky is electric passion while with Abhishek, it's like old wine, gets better with age.
A special kudos to Amit Trivedi's soundtrack which meshes well with the movie but at times felt overwhelming. The cinematography and editing were simple and sweet and one could not get over Taapsee's traditional attires which stayed true to her larger than life character.
The first half was entertaining to watch while the second half seemed a bit too stretched at times, especially the climax sequence.
Manmarziyaan may not be everyone's cup of tea but if you are a diehard fan of romantic movies, Manmarziyaan is a love story worth watching.
We rate it a 65 percent on the movie meter.