- Movie Name:Tumhari Sulu
- Critics Rating: 3.5 / 5
- Release Date: 17-11-2017
- Director: Suresh Triveni
- Genre: Comedy Drama
Before talking about Suresh Triveni-directorial Tumhari Sulu, let me introduce you to the ‘Sulu’ itself. For certain reasons, I would like to talk about the protagonist Vidya Balan before anything else. And why not? She’s the superhero of the film after all. There’s no doubt that she is the actress Bollywood needs and deserves right now. Without the glamorous touches to her personality, the flamboyant actress has got it in her to sweep anyone off their feet. And that’s what Balan is doing in Tumhari Sulu, growing on you, as the film rolls out.
Tumhari Sulu is a story which you get to hear everyday. Like really! We’ve heard so much about the tales of an ‘Aam Admi’, so this time, ladies and gentleman, let’s take a seat and listen to what an ‘Aam Aurat’ has to say. Sulochana aka Sulu (Vidya Balan) is a happy housewife who is content in her small nuclear family with his husband and kid. If I have to describe Sulochana in one word, I would like to call her a ‘butterfly’. A butterfly is happy in her garden, but there’s one thing to her. She cannot stick to the same thing in her life. But the only constant in her life is her husband Ashok (Manav Kaul) and her 11-year-old Pranav. She has a set of twin sisters who are nagging and never spares a moment to put her down. Her father also have no hopes from her as she flunked her school thrice. But none of these bashings make her Tiara fall off her forehead. She carries all the labels with panache and strives incessantly to better her life.
She’s always looking for new ideas and hobbies to keep herself up with. Can’t forget to mention that she’s the champion of lemon-spoon race. She knows how to balance the lemon on a spoon and never can the lemon fall out of its place. In Sulu’s life, everything is changing, except her family. Her family is the lemon to her spoon. She can never let the lemon fall off the spoon. But it does...
Sulu has also been a champ in winning contests, be it from the newspaper, radio or a sack race in her society. One random day she receives a call from her favourite radio jockey RJ Albeli (RJ Malishka) to announce that she won a brand new pressure cooker in a contest. It was the day when Sulu’s fate was being written. She chances upon an idea to become an RJ just like RJ Albeli and this takes her to the Radio Wow office. There she has a vis-a-vis with the Radio Champion Maria (Neha Dhupia) who is apparently flattered by Sulu’s non-chalant ways. The ‘sari wali bhabhi’ is never ashamed to show what she really is. She drools over the table tennis at the office, brings her own ‘steel plate’ for lunch and wears a cotton sari to work. For any task she’s assigned to, she has only one and perfect answer ‘Main kar legi’. She believes in herself and her determination takes to an adventurous journey to culminate herself into an RJ. Infact, she becomes a hit and the star performer of her office. Seems like the perfect happy ending? Isn’t it? But picture toh abhi shuru hui hai....She has to host a chit-chat at the wee hour of night. In the show, she has to coo the lonely men with her seductive voice, which is quite an objectionable profession for a middle-class Indian family. Soon her family starts objecting to her late night schedules and the type of show she has to host. Her husband who is earning a meagre amount of money toiling hard at a textile enterprise, feels insecure of her own wife, although for a short while. This reflects the scenario of every second Indian household, where a woman’s role is narrowed down to the kitchen and the man earns the bread. A single mishit in her family is a blamed on her. And thus she’s demanded to quit her ‘disrespectful job’.
It’s always like this in a patriarchal society. A woman is asked to give up on her dreams so that her family wouldn’t have to suffer. But Sulu is an opportunist. She knows how to find the light at the end of the tunnel. She can dig out an opportunity out of ashes. And so she does. She makes it work for herself and her family and hence finds her another ‘happily ever after’
Tumhari Sulu is somewhere or the other sending out a message that perfection is a myth. And in our lives, we can have more than one happily after. Sulu had her one when she got married to her beau Ashok and the other when she finally proves herself that she can do anything she wants. Tumhari Sulu is nothing like you've ever seen before. Fresh and hitting straight at bull's eye.
Talking about the performance, every single actor has aced their roles. Vidya Balan, needles to mention, sheds of her superstar image and hops into the shoes of Sulu. She's so spectacular that one has to be reminded that she's the same woman who rules the Bollywood with her films. Neha Dhupia has nailed her character, no matter how short her screen timing was. The way she carried herself in a professional guise makes you wish that you had a boss as cool as her! (wink). Manav Kaul is lending out the support Sulu needed in the movie. It won't be an overstatement to say that the entire cast is irreplaceable. We couldn't have imagined anybody else than these fabulous actors to fit in the movie.
One special note to Bollywood, what took you so long to realize that there's a hidden comedian in Vidya Balan. The sound of her laughter is enough to tickle your ribs. It was a breath of fresh air to see Vidya Balan in a different role, a lighter one indeed. And she nailed this as well, hence establishing herself as the superhero of Bollywood.
Tumhari Sulu is the comedy film which firmly made a point that a movie doesn't need to be full of stupidity to be a laughathon!
Meanwhile, watch the trailer of Tumhari Sulu. And all the ladies out there, don't forget to watch this movie. It's worth a watch!
