Anand L.Rai's 2011 movie was about love and marriage, the sequel is about love after marriage.
Following movies like 'Saathiya', 'Namastey London' and "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi', 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' explores the life of a married couple after marriage. There are numerous vignettes about how long term married couples live life- be it Tanu and Manu's best friends- Jassi and Payal (Eijaz and Swara), or Manu's parents.
Tanu (Kangana) and Manu (Madhavan) are at loggerheads with each other, when the scene opens in London, four years after their marriage.
Manu thinks his wife is bipolar and Tanu find her husband boring. They get into a huge fight in front of some psychiatrists who lock Manu is the asylum. Tanu takes this opportunity to return to Kanpur. Meanwhile, a recently freed Manu sends Tanu a warning notification for her to mend her ways or he would divorce her. She gets enraged and revisits her wayward life- flirting with ex-flames and drinking heavily. A new entrant - Chintu ( Md. Zeeshan Ayyub who played Dhanush's friend in 'Raanjhana'), is a squatter and a lawyer who quickly befriends Tanu and fall for her. But she is too busy romancing her ex lover Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill) to notice.
A jealous Chintu quickly sends divorce papers to Manu. He is angry and returns to Delhi- only to meet and fall in love with Delhi University student, Kusum 'Datto', a national level athlete and pure Jaat, who is the doppelgänger of his wife, Tanu.
This seemingly dense love triangle is not the main crux of the story. As usual, Rai punctuates witty humour, mainly in scenes between Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) and Manu; with social messages that deal with women empowerment, honour killings and invitro-fertilization.
The movie deals with these women issues with elan but more than that it makes us realise that Bollywood has left behind romanticizing love and marriage.
Yes, individuals change, but most often they don't. You can't expect marriage to 'solve' something you don't like in a person. Tanu was always crazy and unconventional and she continued to be. Similarly, Manu was boring and he continued to be. Marriage takes work. Both partners should try and change little aspects of themselves to make themselves easier to love with.
The character of Kusum is interesting because it shows a girl with 'balls' of steel who is willing to fight with her family for the love of her life. When Tanu accuses Kusum of being low-class, she is fiery in her response, stating her achievements in sport as well as ability to manage the house.
The film will touch you, because it confirms that yes, even flawed people , have the right to deserve a happy ending. You don't have to be a perfect individual to be loved.
