Manmarziyan is a romantic comedy with a story that revolves around a love triangle set in Punjab.
Rumi (Tapasee)is a feisty girl in love with Vicky( Vicky Kaushal). Having lost her parents early in life, she lives with her doting grandfather and uncle’s family. Vicky is a DJ, a commitment-phobic, and irresponsible to the core.
Together they are a libidinous couple barely able to keep off each other. When they are discovered by Rumi’s family, Vicky is pressurised to commit to marriage. On his consistent failure to do so, after being given numerous chances by Rumi, she marries Robbie (Abhishek Bachchan). He is an NRI banker based in London who is here to marry.
Robbie knew about their relationship even before marriage but is so smitten with her that he’s still willing to take a chance. He believes that if she has chosen to marry him, he stands a chance against Vicky to win her over.
Filmmakers and writers have this new found love of writing unchaste flawed characters, unconventional relationships, and defiant female protagonists. But the storytelling and treatment go a long way into making them credible.
Kanika Dhillon (writer) has created this unconventional couple who are quite wanton, unapologetic and surprisingly quite open about their lascivious behaviour.
What’s all the rarer is Robbie ‘s endless patience with a woman who is not able to make her mind and whose heart oscillates like a pendulum between her husband and ex-lover.
What’s not rare is the portrayal of a modern woman synonymous with sexual abandonment, smoking and drinking.
The movie begins with quite some spark and the humour in dialogues is great. Eventually, the series of chances that Rumi keeps giving to Vicky and her indecisiveness becomes repetitive beyond a certain point.
Tapasee ‘s infused her best in Rumi’s vivaciousness. Her character maintains the buoyancy throughout. Kaushal successfully adds the recklessness to Vicky.
Abhishek looked great in his subtle and restrained performance.
Music by Amit Trivedi is earthy and lyrics meaningful which blend with the situation and tell us more about the characters’ thoughts.
The movie was definitely lengthier than required. And I am surprised that the editor Arti Bajaj has a top-notch filmography to her credit like Raman Raghav, Mukkabaaz, Paan Singh Tomar, Highway, Ugly, Blackfriday amongst many others.
I wonder if it was lack of writing or storytelling that made the story seem meandering and stretched. I guess it was a bit of both.
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The analytical angle the story touches upon is the gamble one has to take in life about choosing between what we want and the sane option that destiny throws at us.
Following the heart (Manmarziyan) sounds poetic but to what extent.
Sounds debatable but then at one point of time, one also starts questioning the meaning of liberty, freedom and understanding. It’s not about a man or a woman, it can be simply the question of how much is too much when trust and love are at loggerheads.
Definitely not at par with any Anurag Kashyap direction but it can be a good one time watch.
The story, the storytelling, the music and performances would entertain enough even if they do not impress.