When Kangana Ranaut announced her production, Tiku Weds Sheru, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and newcomer Avneet Kaur in the lead, hopes were high – not only because the casting of Siddiqui promised certain quality but also because Kaur brought along both freshness and relatability owing to her TV roles as a child actor. The actors do justice to their roles in the movie, directed by Sai Kabir – Siddiqui shines as a romantic hero and Kaur excels in her debut role and displays a maturity much beyond her age.
Kaur plays a young girl, Tiku, who gets married to Siddiqui's Sheru, hoping to move out of her conservative home and travel to Mumbai to pursue her dreams of being an actor. However, her life falls apart when she discovers what her husband really is, and his financial situation. She matures overnight and even agrees to compromise to fulfill her dreams.
Though the actors do a good job, the inconsistent screenplay is a letdown as it fluctuates between being too dark, at times romantic, and sometimes just uncomfortable to watch, and mostly fast-paced. As soon as they get married, Tiku realises she is pregnant with her former boyfriend’s child. Sheru seems upset with this but doesn’t take too much time to accept the child as his own. At times, Sheru is struggling for work, and in the next scene, he is seen making a fast buck and partying hard. And, in yet another scene, you see him ending up in jail.
A new mother and a very naive Tiku is then forced into prostitution and pushed out of her own house. In the end, like most romantic comedies, this film too wraps up with Sheru coming to rescue Tiku and they living together happily ever after. The overall theme of the film feels like an attempt to put together a third instalment of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Tanu Weds Manu.
The most uncomfortable part of the film remains the much talked about age gap between the actors – Siddiqui is 49 and Kaur, 21. Even if we overlook the age factor in love as Jagjit Singh infamously sings ‘Na umar ki seema ho, na janmon ka ho bandhan. Jab pyaar kare koi, toh dekhe keval man’, one cannot get over how young Kaur looks – in most frames, she appears more like a teenager living with a grey-haired man lusting over her. Something in your gut churns when they kiss or when they lay on the bed together.
Kangana Ranaut should have perhaps played the role herself – a pairing of Kangana and Siddiqui would have been an unmissable delight. At the most, the film makes for a one-time watch that might strike you a number of times with its missing humour and shadiness.
Film: Tiku Weds Sheru on Amazon Prime Video
Language: Hindi
Director: Sai Kabir
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Avneet Kaur
Rating: 2.5/5
