Star Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Maniesh Paul
Director: Shashank Khaitan
What’s Good: The consistent breezy humour
What’s Bad: Some stretched moments in the pre-climax
Loo Break: No, no!
Watch or Not?: Yes, yes!
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 135 Minutes
User Rating:
The standard wrong-guy-for-the-girl plus wrong-girl-for-the-guy concept is turned on its head for this whacky rom-com with a conceptual difference.
Sunny with the alliterative surname Sanskari (Varun Dhawan), who hails from a prosperous jeweller’s family, is ‘dumped’ by girlfriend Ananya (Sanya Malhotra) despite a long-standing romance, in favour of tycoon Vikram (Rohit Saraf) because of family pressure. At the same time, Vikram is also not marrying Tulsi Kumari (Janhvi Kapoor), a schoolteacher, who has been his long-time girlfriend. While Tulsi is broken-hearted and weeps at the drop of a hat, Sunny comes to know that his girlfriend’s future husband has ditched her. He finds her and tells her that they must ‘break’ the Vikram-Ananya marriage (a destination wedding), because they must have their exes back in their lives and obviously cannot live without them!
A plan is hatched, with Sunny’s friend, Buntu (Abhinav Sharma), as an accomplice. Pretending to be in love with each other, the two barge into Vikram-Ananya’s pre-wedding festivities, to the delight of the eccentric wedding planner, Kuku (Maniesh Paul), and the chagrin of Ananya’s family. From here, we go on a whirlwind of a fun romp with an occasional flirtation with pathos and a quirky end within the wrong-man-wrong-girl template.
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Movie Review: Script Analysis
Director and co-writer Shashank Khaitan, with dialogue spinner Ishita Moitra, offers a light, sparkling narrative in both their comfort zones, with Shashank returning to his core strength of romances with subtle homilies on family values, gender equalities, and how (and how much!) to look at potential life-partners. A colleague told me in the film’s interval that there was “nothing new here that has not been shown in Hollywood rom-coms,” but conveniently overlooked the fact that this idea of “shaadi todte hain” was quite unused over here. Really, leave aside the charm of old wines in fetching new bottles, some people are never satisfied and always seek comparisons! My query is, why not sit back and enjoy a film on its own merits?
Tuned very much for 2025 audiences, the film cleverly references Hindi cinema classics, from Mr. India and Chak De! India to the Khaitan-co-scripted Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani… itself and more in both lines and songs. These reference points bring the film into quintessential Karan Johar territory, along with the standard impossibly ornate sets, bewitching locations, and impeccable, uber-rich costumes and festivities.
But it is the script (co-written by the zany Ishita Moitra) that overshadows all the production finery. The natural elements brought into the script, with Sunny daring to take on Vikram’s obnoxious elder brother, Param (Akshay Oberoi), for his chauvinism and the incidental love triangle between Buntu, Kuku, and their common flame Nisha (Mallika Chhabra), Ananya’s and Rohit’s outbursts, and more, are in now-familiar Dharma-Karan-Shashank-Ishita terrain but still are refreshingly done. The dialogues are a consistently witty high point, never letting go of a certain minimum level of fun even at the most dramatic points. The sequence of Varun imitating Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan is short but hilarious!
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Movie Review: Star Performance
Varun Dhawan is back in form after the mishaps that were Baby John and Citadel. Back to his cozy corner as well, and with a director with whom he has a fab rapport, Varun exudes confidence, the comic timing, and a freshness that was lacking for long. Janhvi Kapoor is on a roll this year, come Param Sundari or the small but effective turn in Homebound, and soars again as the tippy ‘Tulsi teacher’, as Sunny addresses her. The Varun-Janhvi pairing is synergistic yet again after the differently-pitched Bawaal, and the energy in their dance sequences alone is something to relish.
Rohit Saraf impresses despite his template hangdog expressions and performance—he probably got a character that was perfect for him here! Sanya Malhotra is excellent as the practical Ananya. From the rest, Abhinav Sharma is lovably cute as Buntu, while Maniesh Paul largely plays himself. The rest of the cast has nothing much to do, though Dharna Durga and Prajakta Koli are brought in as Gen Z social media addicts’ allure in measly roles.
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Movie Review: Direction, Music
Like Varun, Shashank Khaitan too has been in a ‘creative’ and professional limbo for a while. The director was not really in his element in Dhadak (a rehash of the overrated Marathi hit, Sairaat) and Govinda Naam Mera. Returning to his favourite genre of fun romances with his …Dulhania franchise hero and reuniting with the actress he introduced with Dhadak (Janhvi), the director brings back the freshness he so effortlessly inculcated into his first two films.
The music (don’t look for perennials here, as of now, songs that can be treasured for long are passe!) is a mixed bag. Ishq manzoor stands out, while Tu hai meri and Panwadi and the re-created Bijuria are noted for their energetic vibe and expensive filming too.
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Movie Review: The Last Word
It’s the festive season. Dharma is back to a festive movie after a ‘festival’ film in Homebound last week. So go and enjoy this feast of entertainment.
Four stars!
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari Trailer
Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari releases on 02 October 2025.
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