If you have seen Luv Ranjan’s previous films, he has always stuck to a definite theme. The prime objective of his films seems to be establishing how womankind exists exclusively to manipulate men. With a song in Pyaar Ka Punchnama named “Ban Gaya Kutta”, refers directly how domesticated state of men is there in relationships. This movie takes this view point to a more exaggerated level, when someone suspects his bestie’s fiancé to be up to no good. What he does is, furnish a female who seems like any other, is visibly unobjectionable and in fact, nearly-flawless. But beneath all the good you see you’ll discover a manipulative dictator out to deconstruct men to turn eternal slaves.
Given the title, the title roles includes Sonu (Kartik Aryan), his childhood friend Titu (Sunny Singh) and his potential bride Sweety (Nushrat Bharucha). That Titu happens to be an emotionally-vulnerable lad, leading to getting stuck with females who get the better of him. Luckily, he has a saviour in Sonu, a friend who sees women as manipulative. But when Titu is arranged to get hitched to Sweety, Sonu is unable to read her and is pissed by the fact. And thus begins the battle between “dost” and “ladki” as Sonu and Sweety give each other blows, cocked eyebrows and lopsided smirks each time they manage to supposedly gain over or expose the other.
Kartik Aryan single-handedly does the heavy lifting here and surely shadows the rest. It’s difficult to imagine Nushrat Bharucha portraying a range of roles, but as Sweety, she couldn’t be better cast. Each time she smiles, she has something in mind. Sunny Singh, clearly is the weakest link here, is assigned the role of Titu for a reason. The C-word dropping grandpa essayed by Alok Nath and his best friend Lalu kaka (Virendra Saxena) surely have more chemistry than the lead pair and one hoped to see more of them in the film. The rest of the supporting cast is brushed aside and is largely peripheral to the story being told.
Unlike his previous films, where Ranjan managed to explore and expose the many tricks that women employ to charm, acquire and rule over men, this one seems a bit weak on insight. Also, while Sweety is demonised for her supposed plotting and planning, her motives remain unexplained. Kartik Aryan does get his monologue (like in both the PKP films) on why men suffer and suffocate in relationships. But the content lacks the angst and frustration of a scorned lover. It’s an anti-love story for sure. But it doesn’t entirely put you off happy endings.
Verdict : 2.5/5
Watch the trailer here:
