If there is plenty that is wrong with the new Karan Johar production—the dearth of girth in the screenplay, for example—there is so much that’s right in the narrative. Although Karan Johar has not directed the film, Shashank Khaitan has, every frame is a homage to the spick and span gosh-how-posh aesthetics of Johar’s directorials, especially in the songs, which are shot on sets that resemble colour-frenzied hallucinogenic versions of a drugged fantasy.
There are only good-looking people in Sanskari-Kumari. Janhvi Kapoor, who plays the title role, has never looked better. This time, the camera and the cameraman Manush Nandan really love Janhvi. They swarm around her like bees to a hive, contouring her every move with loving care.
The spontaneous Sanya Malhotra, who plays Janhvi’s souten, is no harridan. She too is shot lovingly.
Glam is the keyword here. The glossy characters set the mood for the film’s basic First World problem: the dumped damsel in distress Tulsi Kumari must get her boyfriend back. In this, she seeks the assistance of Sunny Sanskari (Varun Dhawan, whose personality lacks maturity, not sincerity). The two head to the destination wedding of their respective dumping partners who, it’s a small world, are getting married to one another.
If you think Sunny and Tulsi’s ex-es are evil hedonists, think again: Vikram and Ananya (there is no escape from the latter’s presence, even as a name, in Karan Johar’s cinema) are decent folks, pressurized into marrying into money.
Tch tch. Poor rich folks and their First World problems…if you are into this sort of vicarious voyeurism into affluence, then Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, an upmarket cousin to Kartik Aaryan break-a-marriage romcom Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety, is just your poison.
It is chic, urbane, and cool enough to make you drool. Some of the antics of the idle rich—the entire film is set in a high-maintenance resort in Udaipur—are priceless.
Naughty and nifty, Janhvi and Sanya are sporting enough to take on the fluff with lots of grace and affection. Janhvi especially takes a while to get into the mood. Once she gets there, she has a whole lot of fun digging into the shallow waters of the plot.
In comparison, the two boys have less bantering and backchatting to do. Rohit Sharaf, in the thankless role of a treacherous suitor, invests some compassion in a role that reeks of misogyny. Varun, in comparison, is everywhere, but never able to conquer that intrinsic brattiness that makes him more Macaulay Culkin than James Dean.
The film is insanely good-looking and incalculably entertaining. The characters are so misplaced in their romantic judgments, they seem to be in the wrong wedding venue. It’s in how much fun they have with their anomalous courtship games that this riotous romcom scores baloney brownie points.
Oh yes, Karan Johar makes a cameo appearance. There is clearly a wicked actor lurking beneath the star-celebrity personality.
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