Tanu Weds Manu team in Pune

The team of Tanu Weds Manu were at Inox, Pune and were visibly thrilled with the positive response to the rom-com. Sandhya Iyer brings the details




2011 is seeing several surprise hits and Tanu Weds Manu is an addition to that list. The rom com is being lapped up and the film's lead actor R Madhavan, in particular, is getting unprecedented praise. The charming actor came to the city with his co-star Kangna Ranaut, director Anand Rai and Deepak Dobrayal (the actor who did a marvellous job as Madhavan's friend).

Looking slimmer than he ever has in recent times, we tell the actor how his entry on screen in Tanu Weds Manu was greeted with huge whistles - something which one sees only when an A list superstar is at the helm. Does he believe his popularity that sky-rocketed after 3 Idiots rubbed off on Tanu Weds Manu as well? The actor agrees. "The success of 3 Idiots is unparallelled and I am sure that popularity must have helped. But I also had 13B which did well. So now with Tanu Weds Manu it's been three hits in a row," he says with some pride.
Sitting next to him was Kangna Ranaut, who said she completely identified with her character in the film. "Every girl can relate to Tanu. It was my most satisfying and fulfilling roles. Tanuja is not dumb. She's a smart, intelligent outspoken girl and knows the effect she has on men."
The film is about a reticent, affable NRI groom falling for a loud, capricious small-town girl with plenty of airs. We ask Madhavan about the scene where he sees Kangna as a sleeping bride-to-be and agrees to marry her. It is testimony to the actor's talent that one buys a somewhat absurd situation like this, but was it just physical attraction that makes him fall in love so instantly? We put the question to the director, but Madhavan is eager to field this one. "I'll answer it, because it is my interpretation. Every love story begins with looks. You probably cannot find someone ugly and yet fall in love immediately. Looks do matter. The other thing is that, even in real life, when I was of marriagable age, I thought it looked quite unmanly to go and see a girl and then call in saying you don't want to go ahead. I think that same feeling is with Manu. He knows his parents have approved the family, so he's made up his mind to marry without too much fuss. He doesn't fall in love with Tanu instantly, but he is charmed by the fact that a girl can be so cool so as to sleep when a guy is coming to see her. He falls in love much later," Madhavan explains.
The actor has a relatively low-key role in the film, but Madhavan made it extremely memorable. Says the actor about his part, "No other hero would have agreed to do the role after reading the script. There are no turning points for him. He hardly talks in the film. It's not author-backed at all. But I'm glad it worked," he says. Director Anand Rai agrees, "Yes, his role isn't author-backed, but it is director-backed. Manu is extremely strong in his thoughts - once he decides, he decides."
There have been points of criticism against the film, where people have found it somewhat strange for Madhavan to stick on in such a harrowing relationship. The director has no qualms joining the critics' chorus. "I agree with them, the film is not flawless at all. But I tried to make the characters lovable. You fall in love with them, so you forgive many things," he says.
There has been talk about a sequel to Tanu Weds Manu. The team is toying with the idea after the media presumed it themselves. "If you ask me whether I had thought of a sequel, then the answer is no. We're hearing it for the last ten days. I might consider it, but nothing as of now," says Rai.
Madhavan is less enthused. "How do you make a sequel to a love story? It has a beginning and an end. Sequels are made for films like Dhoom and Krrish. But let's see if something works out," he says.
The film's leading lady too is happy that she got to do a different role after playing a series of on-the-edge characters. " I am a happy person by nature. And I was a bit tired to do the on the edge roles. I'm thrilled this happened," she says.