Manikarnika Films’ Tiku Weds Sheru is about a junior artiste in Bollywood and an aspiring actress from Bhopal. It exposes the travails of struggling actors.
Sheru (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a junior artiste working in Hindi films but who dreams of becoming a big star soon. He doubles up as a pimp working for his boss. Together, they supply girls to rich scoundrels. Sheru’s family receives a marriage proposal for him from Tiku’s (Avneet Kaur) family. The two get married but no sooner does Tiku land in Bombay after her marriage to Sheru, she realises that she is pregnant with her boyfriend’s child. Incidentally, she has gotten married to Sheru only so that she can reach Bombay and be with her boyfriend who has promised to fulfil her dream of becoming a Bollywood star. On learning of her own pregnancy, Tiku tries to run away but Sheru, who is besotted by her beauty, prevails upon her to stay back as he is willing to accept her unborn child. Time passes by. Tiku seems to have settled down in domesticity till one day, law catches up with Sheru who is put behind bars. Like a true caring mother, Tiku does all under her command to fend for herself and her child. She even sells her body. What happens thereafter? Do Sheru and Tiku get together again?
Amit Tiwari Anand and Sai Kabir have penned an apology of a story which doesn’t have a head or tail. Their screenplay is so pathetic that the comedy falls flat on its face. What’s more, the emotional scenes simply do not touch the heart but rather end up irritating the viewers so much that they begin to cringe in their seats. The screenplay is disjointed to the point that oftentimes, there is no connection between one scene and the immediately following scene. The audience get the impression that a drama has just been pieced together because the writers seemed to have decided that they need to have a two-hour film. Nothing, repeat, nothing makes an impact on the viewers. Instead, the audience lose their patience a number of times and simply don’t connect with the unfolding drama which simultaneously moves in God knows how many directions. Consequently, the film remains neither a love story nor a comedy nor even a human drama. It becomes a hotchpotch of scenes which come and go, often without any meaning. The climax is as idiotic as the rest of the drama. The duo’s dialogues are horrible — and that’s putting it mildly.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui fails to make a mark in the role of Sheru. It is tragic to see such a brilliant actor waste his talent on such a mindless enterprise. Avneet Kaur is so-so as Tiku. Rahoul fails to impress as Binny. Khushi Bhardwaj lends fair support as Sana. Vipin Sharma leaves a mark as Shahid. Zakir Hussain has his moments as Ahmed Rizvi. Suresh Vishwakarma is okay as Chandresh Bhund. Mukesh Bhatt is adequate as Anand. Aseem Dubey and Meenu Singh provide ordinary support as Tiku’s parents. Kangana Ranaut hardly adds star value in a terribly tiny appearance. Ghanshyam Garg (as Raza Ali Khan), Aakash Pandey (as Mahesh) and the others pass muster.
Sai Kabir’s direction is disastrous. The man seems to have made the film without application of mind. Gaurav Chatterji and Sai Kabir’s music is so-so. One song is alright while the others hardly make an impact. Sai Kabir and Shellee’s lyrics are very ordinary. Song picturisations hardly deserve separate mention. Aman Pant’s background music is not up to the mark. Fernando Gayesky’s cinematography is ordinary. Sunil Rodrigues’ action and stunts are average. Rakesh Yadav’s production designing and Sharad Lad’s art direction are not of standard. Ballu Saluja’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, Tiku Weds Sheru is a miserable film which would’ve bombed at the box-office and will also face rejection on the OTT circuit.
Released on 23-6-’23 on Amazon Prime Video.