T-Series and Luv Films’ Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (UA) is about romance versus friendship.
Sonu (Kartik Aryan) and Titu (Sunny Singh) have been childhood friends. Sonu had lost his mother years back. He lives with Titu as his father is abroad. Titu has a large family comprising his mother (Ayesha Raza Mishra), father (Pawan Chopra), grandmother (Madhumalti Kapoor), grandfather (Alok Nath) and grandmother’s brother, Lalu Kaka (Virendra Saxena). Titu keeps falling in and out of love. His heartbreaks are painful as he is an emotional guy. Sonu is Titu’s emotional anchor.
Soon after Titu’s breakup with Pihu (Ishita Raj), his family gets a marriage proposal for Titu. The entire family, including Sonu who is like a family member, accompany Titu to meet the girl, Sweety (Nushrat Bharucha), and her parents (Deepika Deshpande-Amin and Rajesh Jais). Except for Sonu, everybody approves of the girl.
Quite reluctantly, Sonu gives his approval too but as Sweety interacts with Titu, him (Sonu) and the family, Sonu gets more and more convinced that Sweety is a manipulative gold-digger and is definitely not the right girl for his innocent and dear friend, Titu. He tries every trick in the book to have the marriage called off but fails. He even takes Titu’s grandfather and Lalu Kaka into confidence but there’s nothing that happens in that direction. By now, Sweety becomes aware that Sonu wants Titu to call off the marriage. Headstrong as she is, she challenges Sonu to stall the wedding while admitting that she is not a nice girl.
It is now a virtual tug of war. Sonu desperately tries to make Titu realise his folly while Sweety is sugar-sweet in her interactions with the family so as to win over the family members. Even as the wedding date is approaching, Sonu and Titu take off for Amsterdam for a bachelor’s party and, under grandma’s instructions, are accompanied by grandpa and Lalu Kaka. In Amsterdam, Sonu tries to set up Titu with his ex-love, Pihu, who then accompanies them back to India to attend the marriage of Titu and Sweety. Sonu has, of course, taken Pihu into confidence and she plays along as she loves Titu. On his part, Titu also realises that he still loves Pihu.
What happens thereafter? Does Titu marry Sweety? Or is Sonu successful in breaking the impending marriage of Titu and Sweety? Does Titu marry Pihu? Or does Sweety turn out to be the best girl for Titu?
Luv Ranjan has come up with a nice and entertaining story which talks of romance versus friendship. The concept is quite novel and his story offers a lot of humour and comedy, besides drama. The screenplay, written by Rahul Mody and Luv Ranjan, is excellent. The first half is so funny that the audience just can’t stop laughing. There are so many scenes in which the viewers would end up rolling with laughter. The second half is not half as funny but that’s not a flaw. Rather, the game of one-upmanship between Sonu and Sweety offers so much entertainment to the audience that it makes up for the cut in comedy. The exaggerations in the pre- and post-interval portions are taken by the audiences in their stride because the mood is set right from the word ‘go’. The point of resolution in the climax is very well-thought of and is emotional enough to appeal to the viewers. In fact, the climax, in that sense, could be termed a masterstroke because the resolution point is very unusual and convincing. All in all, the screenplay keeps the audience completely and thoroughly entertained, engaged and involved.
Dialogues, penned by the duo, are extraordinary. Although swear words and four-letter words have been muted – and this is all through the film – the muted portions don’t look or sound jarring because the viewers get a hang of what is meant to be conveyed and they actually enjoy the deleted words by assuming what they could be!
Kartik Aryan has matured tremendously as an actor. He acts with such effortless ease that it’s a delight to watch him perform. Sunny Singh is endearing in the role of Titu. He also performs very naturally and makes the character of Titu believable. Nushrat Bharucha is lovely as Sweety. Hers is a difficult role but it must be said to her credit that she lends the role the right amount of restraint. Ishita Raj (as Pihu) leaves a lovely mark in the second half. Alok Nath lends outstanding support as Titu’s grandfather. Madhumalti Kapoor is lovable as Titu’s street-smart grandmother. Virendra Saxena leaves a fantastic mark as Lalu Kaka. Ayesha Raza Mishra shines in the role of Titu’s mother. Her dialogue delivery is impeccable. As Titu’s father, Pawan Chopra makes his presence felt. Deepika Deshpande-Amin leaves a mark as Sweety’s mother. Rajesh Jais has his moments in the role of Sweety’s father. Pritam Jaiswal is first-rate as house help Babu. Sonali Seygal lends good support in a guest appearance. Others provide decent support.
Luv Ranjan’s direction is splendid. He has made the film a racy entertainer which is what it should’ve been. Music (by Rochak Kohli, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Amaal Malik, Guru Randhawa, Zack Knight and Saurabh-Vaibhav) is very good. Most of the songs are fast-paced numbers with appealing tunes. Even the slow sad song is very nice. Lyrics (Kumaar, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Guru Randhawa, Zack Knight, Swapnil Tiwari, Singhsta and Oye Shera) go well with the mood of the film. Song picturisations (by Bosco-Caesar) are eye-filling. Hitesh Sonik’s background music is lovely. Sudhir K. Chaudhary’s camerawork is of a fine standard. Production designing (by Sukant Panigrahy and Dipankar Dasgupta) is excellent. Akiv Ali’s editing is crisp.
On the whole, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is a box-office hit and will keep the audience smiling and laughing, and the distributors, producers and exhibitors laughing all the way to the bank.