Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi kumari, Overview: Funny Kalamkari ki Bhari shikari

Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi kumari, Overview: Funny Kalamkari ki Bhari shikari

Okay, so you need to look up the word ‘kalamkari’. No, you don’t. I will do the needful. ‘Kalamkari’ is a form of printing designs on cloth. And if you tell me you don’t know what shikari and funny mean, it is not funny! So, who or what is funny? Sunny (proper noun) is. And where is the ‘kalamkari’? All over the film, in terms of criss-cross lines and a veritable feast of costumes. ‘Bhari’ is weighty/heavy and ‘shikari’ means hunter. In the film, Sunny, and Tulsi, are the ‘weighty’ hunters, who throw in their weight into plotting revenge, and prey upon a couple about to get married. You mean that such vengeful, mean and evil-minded persons are the lead characters in the film? Exactly. ‘Sanskari’ means a person brought-up with traditional values, and ‘Tulsi’ is a plant that is worshipped. That we know, but how can such words/names be associated with revenge? Well, for one, Sanskari is not an adjective here but the surname of Sunny. And Tulsi is not a tree, but his ex-girl-friend, who still dotes on him, and joins him in a devious plot to stop Vikram marrying Ananya. Who are Vikram and Ananya? They are the ex-boy-friend and ex-girl-friend of Tulsi and Sunny, respectively. Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi kumari has the above plot, executed in an OVER the TOP style, with a high octane blast of razzle, dazzle and razzmatazz.

You have a fair idea of the plot, by now. The two plotters are director-writer Shashank Khaitan of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) and Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), Good Newwz (2019) fame, as director, and Dil Bechara (2020) and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023) as writer, and Ishita Moitra, of Always Kabhi (2011), Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), Bad Newz (2024) and Nadaaniyan (2025) gauge. What you don’t know yet is that the wedding is being planned by ace Wedding Planner Kuku, who has no branches, is a location wedding, of the big, fat, Indian variety. It includes water sports, a safari and a dumb charade for the guests, not to mention the ‘mehndis’ and the ‘sangeets’, and many songs and dances of the lead actors supported by 500 odd background dancers type. (Just guessing. Whoever was able to accurately count the number of dancers in any such extravaganzas?)

What do the bride-to-be and groom-to be do, for a living? The groom is filthy rich, and the girl is an academic genius, who need not work after marriage. But what about the title-holders, Sunny and Tulsi? Sunny’s father runs a jewellery business while Tulsi is a school teacher. One touch, and Sunny can correctly read the carat value of any diamond, blindfolded. Tulsi is not gifted with any such rare talent. In the process of wrecking the Vikram-Ananya marriage, Sunny and Tulsi develop (redevelop?) romantic feelings for each other. Sunny has a dream wherein he dresses-up as Bahubali, Ananya’s favourite film hero, and is about to propose to her, when she turns round, to reveal that she is not Ananya but Tulsi. Believing early morning dreams to come true, he is now in a fix.

Touted as a rom com, the film has fair dose of rom (ance), but the com (edy) is not the norm. Audiences are expected to guffaw when Sunny and Tulsi compare their social statuses. Sunny tells her that he is a middle class person, because he gets only Rs. 50,000 per month as pocket money. Tulsi replies that she is even more middle class, because her salary is just Rs. 25,000. “That is not middle class,” retorts Sunny, “that is lower middle class.” Then there are several insider references that try hard to make you chortle, like the Bahubali gag above. On an earlier occasion, Sunny asks Tulsi to walk like Kat. “Walk like a cat?” queries the befuddled simpleton. “Not a cat, but Kat, as in Katrina Kaif (a top Indian actress, not seen on screen for some time now).”

When the mother of the groom becomes a thorn in the flesh of Tulsi, Sunny suggests that they bump her off. How? Asks the innocent Tulsi. “By throwing her out of the Jeep during the safari, the moment we sight a leopard.” This one does evoke a chortle.  As does the yoga scene, except for the comment that the pose a couple has struck is reminiscent of Titanic. We also go with Sunny taking off his shirt in a lift and pretend that he is unable to breathe, to put his co-‘lifter’ Ananya in a spot, when the door opens, and they are seen in a compromising position, in what seems to be an embrace. Then there are hit film song numbers from yesteryear, to which the actors gyrate and perform calisthenics of the most incredible kind. These include ‘Kaatey naheen kat-tey yeh din yeh raat,’ originally picturised on Sridevi, in the film Mr. India. You know, of course, that Sridevi’s daughter Janhvi is playing Tulsi in this film.

It dawns on you fairly early that the reference point for the film is Hum Aapke Hain Koun (HAHK), an all-time favourite of producer Karan Johar. Wedding ceremonies that go on for hours, as the main attraction, and a romance blooming on the sidelines, as a side-show, one that will overshadow the set agenda. Having said that, this is not the kind of film Suraj Barjatya (director of HAHK) would see in his west nightmares, let alone direct. Never mind. We have in Shashank Khaitan a blend of Suraj Barjatya, Anees Bazmee, Priyadarshan and David Dhawan, with his own contributions to match. Not surprisingly, the film is a cocktail of five ingredients. And I am not referring to the numerous occasions when gentlemen and ladies down glass upon glass of alcohol in all its concoctions. Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi kumari moves in five speeds: Rocket, aeroplane, Le Mans 24-hour car race, scooter and bullock carts. Characters and situations move at disorienting speed on many an occasion, almost as if they are on rocket fuel. Then there are the normal airplane speed rides, including an airplane scene. Suddenly, without warning, we find ourselves at Le Mans, and 24 frames (not hours) later, we are with Sunny on a scooter. And then comes a breather, when the characters walk and talk normally, a là bullock carts.

One particular scene, in which all four marriage prospectors are dead drunk, could have evolved into something truly comical. But Khaitan and Ishita decide to make all four crawl on all fours instead, with Sunny asking his fellow drunks what that white ball in the sky is, only to get his knowledge enriched by a companion, ‘That is no white ball. It is the moon.” Was it moonshine that they were served, in such a high profile wedding? An opportunity lost. A lot of the action takes place on a jetty, with someone leaving without notice, someone running to stop the someone, someone running towards the other someone, and an embrace following. It’s a feast of costumes, colours and textures rarely seen in Hindustani films, though one wonders whether highly revealing costumes are in place in a wedding that is mainly a ‘sanskari’ affair.

Varun Dhawan is as full of energy and beans, as the role of Sunny demands, and oozes enough confidence to play directly to the gallery. Janhvi Kapoor as Tulsi Teacher (not kumari) is improving with every film, though her dialogue delivery is still not perfect. Sanya Malhotra as Ananya Bhatia, who wants to hang on to her identity and declares that after marriage, she will not be known as Mrs. Ananya Vikram Singh but as Ananya Bhatia-Singh, is a combination of right looks and convincing performance. Rohit Saraf as Vikram Singh is a bit tame. Maniesh Paul as Kuku is as loud as they come. Some of his lines will be lost on ears that have not been updated with the latest software. Akshay Oberoi as Param Singh, Abhinav Sharma as Buntu, Manini Chadha as Rakhi Singh, Mallika Chhabra as Nisha, Nazneen Madan as Mrs. Kriti Bhatia, Ananya's mother, Gaurav Sikri as Mr. Pulkit Bhatia, Ananya's father, Monika Kohli as Mrs. Singh and Salim Arif as Mr. Diwan constitute the supporting cast. Kavita Pais as Geeta Sanskari, Sunny's mother, and Rohitashv Gour as Suresh Sanskari, Sunny's father, are very natural. Prajakta Koli plays Dimple, in a cameo appearance.

Also doing their bit are Cinematographer Manush Nandan and Editors Manan Sagar and Charu Shree Roy. Musical score is by John Stewart Eduri, while the songs are the composite efforts of Tanishk Bagchi, A.P.S., Sachet–Parampara, Guru Randhawa, Rony Ajnali and Gill Machhrai. At least two songs will make sing-along and swing-along. Both could qualify as item numbers, had it not been for the lead actors leading the rubber-bodied skin-shows.

VFX and slo mo are used to the max. Three-part split screens, with the central frame frozen and the two frames on the side in action, is another visual jugglery on display. Sound and dialogue is delivered at double the speed. Studies have revealed that the human ear and brain has difficulty registering speech that is delivered at more than 120 words per minute. It can make adjustments till 150 words with some difficulty, and 180, with great effort. My guess is that the dialogue, in several parts of the film, is delivered at 240 words per minute. And many of the shots are four-frame shots, the minimum required to register on our eyes. With such an assault, you could call this more of an experimental film than a romantic comedy. Don’t worry, if you decide to watch it, you will not be treated as a guinea pig. On the contrary, if you can last out the 135 minutes (felt more like 135x2, 270), you might actually find the experiment successful. And what exactly do I mean by Funny Kalamkari ki Bhari shikari? Er…a funny, rhyming headline for a funny, rhyming title, like Sunny Sanskari ki Tulsi kumari. You can go with the title, and not the headline. The choice is yours.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/9FUd-D4FWjw