Something Haute rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Bollywood loves a good love triangle but this time – it’s different. You may have seen countless lovelorn heroes yearning for their heroine’s love or vice versa, but this time bromance wins over romance. If you’re familiar with Luv Ranjan’s brand of films – cult-favourites like Pyaar Ka Punchnama – you may know we’re talking about the director’s latest film, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.
Exploring the fraternal friendship between Sonu (Karthik Aaryan) and Titu (Sunny Singh) – who are inseparable, the film looks at Sweety’s (Nushrat Bharucha) arrival, which messes their equation, leading Sonu to wonder if the girl is truly as good as she seems or is yet another ‘manipulator’ in disguise.  Soon enough, we – and Sonu – find out, leading to a two and half hour long roller coaster ride of laughs, misogyny, and classic Bollywood pomp.
Following the same story theme as previous films like Pyaar Ka Punchnama 1 & 2, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is not without issues. Representing women as highly manipulative beings, the film does to filmmaking what 90s Bollywood romcoms did to humour – it dumbs it down. Filled with jokes around manipulative girlfriends, the film veers away from anything considered appropriate in today’s day and age. However, that is the film’s misogynistic victory – which draws laughs from the whole cinema.
Despite its problematic undertones, the film manages to bring laughter and success back to Bollywood. Perhaps, in the new sphere of narrative, what was missing could have been a film such as this, which brings a new approach to the status quo. A girl too can be a ‘villain ‘as they say in this anti-romance crusade, and maybe that is what Bollywood wanted to endorse.
With all said and done, the film has managed to become a huge box-office success and perhaps, that should be one of the reasons to watch the film. If nothing else, the best friend or girlfriend question may give you some fun moments and that’s reason enough!
