Tanu Weds Manu: Returns

Tanu Weds Manu Returns
File:Tanu weds Manu poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Aanand L. Rai
Produced by	Krishika Lulla Aanand L. Rai
Written by	Himanshu Sharma
Starring	Kangana Ranaut Madhavan Jimmy Sheirgill Swara Bhaskar Deepak Dobriyal
Music by	Krsna Solo Tanishk-Vayu (Tanishk Bagchi)
Cinematography	Chirantan Das
Edited by	Hemal Kothari
Production company	Colour Yellow Productions
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	22 May 2015 (2015-05-22)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹39 crore
Box office	est. ₹252 crore

Tanu Weds Manu Returns is a 2015 Indian romantic comedy film directed by Aanand L. Rai which is a sequel to the 2011 film Tanu Weds Manu. Kangana Ranaut, Madhavan, Jimmy Sheirgill, Deepak Dobriyal, Swara Bhaskar and Eijaz Khan reprise their roles from the original film. Ranaut also portrays the additional role of a Haryanvi athlete in it. The story, screenplay and the dialogues were written by Himanshu Sharma. The soundtrack and film score were composed by Krsna Solo and the lyrics were penned by Rajshekhar. Saroj Khan and Bosco–Caesar were the film's choreographers while the editing was done by Hemal Kothari.

Principal photography began in October 2014 and the film was released on 22 May 2015. The film carries the story forward showing the next chapter in the couple's life. Tanu Weds Manu Returns received critical acclaim with Ranaut's performance was particularly praised with many considering it one of the best Bollywood sequels ever made. Made on a budget of ₹39 crore (US$5.5 million), the film earned ₹252 crore (US$35 million) worldwide and became one of the highest grossing Bollywood films. The film received three awards at the 63rd National Film Awards, including Best Actress for Ranaut.

Plot

Tanu Sharma and Manoj Kumar Sharma, aka Manu are a couple in London that married 4 years ago and have an unhappy and dysfunctional marriage. Tanu gets Manu detained in a mental asylum, and returns to her hometown Kanpur, India, when her friend Payal calls her from India and tells Tanu that she has given birth to a baby girl. Before leaving London, Tanu rings Manu's friend Pappi Kutti in Delhi and tells him to immediately leave for London and release Manu.

In Kanpur at her parents' home, Tanu encounters a crafty law student called Chintu who has become a lodger but refuses to pay rent nor does he vacate. Chintu befriends Tanu and slowly develops a crush on her, bemused by her antics. Tanu also comes to know that her ex-boyfriend, Raja Awasthi, is getting engaged to another girl. Pappi reaches London and gets Manu out and they reach India, where Manu sends a legal notice to Tanu to make her apologise, but she does not respond.

One day Manu goes to Delhi University to give a medical speech, where he sees Kusum Sangwan, a young Haryanvi student-athlete, who resembles Tanu. He slowly gets obsessed with Kusum and keeps following her despite Pappi's warning. One day after Kusum confronts them, Manu tells her about Tanu. Kusum sympathises and they gradually develop feelings for each other. Manu tells Kusum he wants to marry her and meets Omi, her elder brother. Omi has no issues with Manu but shows a picture of the boy his wife wanted Kusum to marry, who turns out to be Raja. Payal Gill, Tanu's best friend calls Tanu and confides that her newborn baby's father is not her husband Jassi Gill.

Chintu gets jealous of Raja going around with Tanu and tells her father about it. He even sends Manu a nasty legal notice for a divorce, without Tanu's consent, but Manu responds by agreeing, which shocks Tanu. She confronts Chintu who says he loves her but Raja shoves him off. Raja also discovers his engagement is being called off as Manu is going to marry the new girl in his life. Both Raja and Tanu are enraged and decide to go to Delhi to confront Manu.

Manu, Kusum and Pappi travel to Chandigarh to convince Komal Gill, Payal's sister-in-law whom Pappi loves, to ditch her own wedding and elope with Pappi instead. As Pappi tries to convince Komal, Kusum is mistaken by everyone at the wedding as Tanu, including Payal, who tells her she had a test-tube baby secretly as Jassi had azoospermia. Kusum gets frantic on hearing these secrets and gives Payal a karate chop which knocks her out. She also lands a karate chop on Komal and they smuggle her to Jhajjar, where Kusum's villagers are waiting. But once her family finds out she loves Manu, they attack Manu and Pappi and lock up Kusum. Omi arrives and saves the day with his logic. The village agrees to Kusum and Manu's marriage.

As wedding preparations start, Tanu and Raja reach there with Jassi, Payal, their baby and Manu's parents. Tanu makes fun of Kusum who snaps at her saying she is a state-level champion who is independent, loving and honest. She also reveals the truth behind Payal's baby in front of Jassi. A shocked and drunk Tanu meets Manu at night who brutally brushes off her loving declarations. In the morning, Tanu tells Kusum she is sorry about her behaviour and would like to stay and help out in their wedding preparations.

Payal and Jassi are reunited. On the eve of the wedding, Tanu gets drunk and dances in front of Manu during the baraat procession. Her parents arrive with Chintu and are shocked to see Tanu shattered as Manu leaves for his marriage. Tanu sits quietly as Manu is marrying Kusum, until Kusum stops and confronts Manu, who confesses he still loves Tanu and cannot marry her. Kusum honourably releases him and walks off, to break down privately.

Tanu and Manu are reconciled while Kusum and Raja have a conversation.

Cast

• Kangana Ranaut as Tanuja 'Tanu' Sharma/Trivedi, Manu's wife / 'Kusum' Sangwan ("Datto")
• Madhavan as Dr . Manoj Kumar Sharma aka Manu, Tanu's husband , Datto's Fiancee and Love Interest
• Jimmy Sheirgill as Raja Awasthi , Tanu's Former Boyfriend
• Deepak Dobriyal as Pappi Kutti (Manu's cousin)
• Eijaz Khan as Jassi Gill , Payal's Husband
• Swara Bhaskar as Payal Jassi Gill
• Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Advocate Arun "Chintu" Kumar Singh , Tanu's Short - Time Love Interest
• Rajendra Gupta as Rajendra Trivedi (Tanu's Father)
• Navni Parihar as Radha Trivedi ( Tanu's Mother)
• K.K.Raina as Kishan Sharma ( Manu's Father)
• Dipti Misra as Anju Sharma ( Manu's Mother)
• ((Akash Dahiya)) as Deeapak (Tanu's friend Rickshaw Wala)
• Shishir Sharma as Mr. Sangwan ( Datto's Father)
• Gulzar Dastur as Mrs. Sangwan ( Datto's Mother)
• Rajesh Sharma as Omprakash 'Omi' Sangwan (Datto's brother)
• Rahul Shankalya as Rajinder Sangwan( Datto's brother)
• Kajal Bhadana as Pinki (Datto's Friend )
• Manu Rishi as Manu's Lawyer (Tees Hazari Court, Delhi)

Production

Following the positive response to Tanu Weds Manu post release in February 2011, the team considered making a sequel to carry the story forward showing the next chapter of the couple's life. The lead couple R. Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut both announced their interest of being a part of a proposed sequel, months after the original's release. In September 2011, Sunil Lulla of Eros International announced that they had signed on director Aanand L. Rai to work on a second part of the film titled Tanu Weds Manu: Season 2. Early reports claimed that the lead actors would be seen in dual roles, while it was also speculated that Shahid Kapoor may replace Madhavan in the lead role. In January 2012, the project was postponed to allow Anand Rai to proceed with another venture Raanjhanaa (2013), while the makers also wanted Ranaut to finish her commitments with Krrish 3 (2013) as the sequel demanded a different look.

Following the release and success of Raanjhanaa in July 2013, Anand Rai confirmed that the sequel to Tanu Weds Manu was still active and would feature the original cast in the leading roles, playing down reports that Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma were to replace them. Screenwriter Himanshu Sharma began working on the film in July 2013 and revealed that only the first ten minutes would have a London backdrop, before the story returns to Lucknow, Kanpur and Delhi. He went on to confirm the working title, though added it potentially may also be known as Tanu Weds Manu Extra Large. Pre-production continued through late 2013, with Ranaut's two-month trip to the USA delaying the start of the shoot in early 2014. She later confirmed that she would play a dual role in the film, that of an athlete apart from Tanu, and the team scouted for a body double to be used in scenes featuring both characters. Dhanush, who had worked in Raanjhanaa, was revealed to be playing a cameo appearance in the film.

The team began filming in October 2014 in Lucknow, after a small launch ceremony. The first motion poster of the film was released on 23 March 2015 on the birthday of the leading actress, Kangana Ranaut at a special event in Delhi. "Ja Ja Ja Ja Bewafa" sung by Geeta Dutt in 1954 film Aar Paar, was picturised on Ranaut, playing the background.

Controversies

In May 2014, the producers of the original film, Sanjay Singh, Vinod Bachchan and Shailesh Singh filed a legal notice stating that the director did not have the rights to make a sequel without their permission. Anand Rai replied stating that the trio only had rights over the first film and no direct rights over sequels or the franchise. In a further reply, Bachchan revealed that they were interested in making a sequel and should have been approached ahead of Eros International.

In May 2015, a critic at the Mumbai Mirror gave the film 2.5 stars and a generally negative review. The newspaper later "revised" the critic's rating to 3.5 stars, based on reader feedback.

Soundtrack

Tanu Weds Manu: Returns
Soundtrack album by Krsna Solo & Tanishk-Vayu (Tanishk Bagchi)
Released	2015 (2015)
Recorded	2014
Genre	Feature Film Soundtrack
Length	40:54
Label	Eros Music, T-Series

The music and background score is composed by Krsna Solo, and the lyrics were written by Rajshekhar. However, the song "Banno" has been composed by Tanishk-Vayu (Tanishk Bagchi), and written by Vayu, and the song "Mari Gali" has been written by N.S. Chauhan and SurjRDB, and composed by the latter.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Banno"	Brijesh Shandllya, Swati Sharma	03:16
2.	"Move On"	Sunidhi Chauhan	04:10
3.	"Mat Ja Re"	Ankit Tiwari	03:52
4.	"Ghani Bawri"	Jyoti Nooran	04:14
5.	"Old School Girl"	Anmol Malik	03:39
6.	"Old School Girl (Haryanvi)"	Kalpana Gandharv	04:08
7.	"Ho Gaya Hai Pyar"	Dev Negi	03:48
8.	"O Sathi Mere"	Sonu Nigam	05:46
9.	"Ghani Bawri (Remix)"	Jyoti Nooran	03:48
10.	"Mari Gali"	N.S. Chauhan, Dilbag Singh	04:13
Total length:			40:54

Release

The film was released worldwide on 22 May 2015 with nearly 2200 screens in India. The film was released overseas with 350 screens across the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia and UAE. According to Box Office India, the film had an average opening in circuits like Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Tanu Weds Manu Returns opened to almost 60% occupancies in screens up north, while screens across other states and metros had registered figures of 40–50%. The satellite rights of the film were sold to Zee TV.

Reception

Box office

Tanu Weds Manu Returns earned ₹380 million (US$5.3 million) in its opening weekend in India, for a worldwide gross of ₹650 million (US$9.1 million). Trade analysts reported that the film took in the biggest opening weekend collections for a Bollywood film that year, and also recovered its production budget in the first three days. The film earned ₹85 million (US$1.2 million) on its first Monday. It earned ₹975 million (US$14 million) after its second weekend. The film earned ₹458 million (US$6.4 million) in its second week in India for a two-week domestic total of ₹1.15 billion (US$16 million).

According to Box Office India projection, Tanu Weds Manu Returns earned ₹243 crore (US$34 million) worldwide at the end of its theatrical run, to become one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films.

Critical reception

Kangana Ranaut's performance as the titular character garnered widespread critical acclaim winning her the National Film Award for Best Actress.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns received positive reviews from critics, with major praise drawn to Ranaut's performance. In a 4.5 out of 5 star review, Srijan Mitra Das of The Times Of India said, "Tanu Weds Manu Returns boasts one of the finest double roles ever in Hindi cinema. Alongside, Madhavan does a fine job as quiet, often morose, sometimes hopeful Manu." He also added, "Anand L. Rai merits applause for his masterful direction of Himanshu Sharma's rich, riotous story. Evoking a new-age Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Rai keeps things tight, light, yet layered." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote, "I would buy a ticket for Kangana Ranaut." She gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV said, "The film hits the ground running, cruises along like a song until its final moments, where it comes close to losing its way just a tad." Mihir Fadnavis of Firstpost praised Kangana's performance saying "...the real draw of Tanu Weds Manu Returns is that you get two Kangana Ranauts to entertain you and she delivers in a huge way." Anupama Chopra gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said, "The strong writing is complimented by equally strong performances. Deepak Dobriyal is wonderful as the hapless, permanently rejected Pappi. However, Tanu Weds Manu Returns rests on Kangana's shoulders and she carries it with her Herculean talent. " Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 4 stars out of 5, commenting "'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' is no doubt a showcase for the immense talent of Ranaut, who sinks her teeth into this ‘double-role’ challenge, and creates two strikingly different characters."

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of accolades received by Tanu Weds Manu Returns

External links

• Tanu Weds Manu: Returns on IMDb
• Tanu Weds Manu: Returns at Rotten Tomatoes
• Template:Mojo movie
• Tanu Weds Manu: Returns at Bollywood Hungama
• Tanu Weds Manu Returns at ZEE5