What Is the Story About?
Prime Video’s latest direct to digital release ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’ centres on struggling actor Shiraz “Sheru” Khan Afghani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who moonlights as a pimp for the local don (Vipin Sharma). He gets married to Tasleem “Tiku” Khan (Avneet Kaur), who has her own selfish motives to marry him. Do things work out for them in the heartless city of Mumbai?
Tiku Weds Sheru is written and directed by Sai Kabir, and produced by Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika Films.
Performances?
Tiku Weds Sheru is marked by terrible performances, each more hammy and abominable as the next. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a shadow of his original self, and utterly unsuitable for the mediocre role. Avneet Kaur lacks the spark and chutzpah to pull off a ‘Geet’ or ‘Tanu’ type of character that the writer imagined Tiku as. Also, she’s a kid still at 21 years, and her pairing with the 49-year-old Nawazuddin Siddiqui raises a stink the size of the gutters of Mithi. The supporting cast is less than impressive too.
Analysis
Tiku Weds Sheru is a movie that should never have gotten made. Just like Sheru’s non-existent production in the film, Tiku Weds Sheru is a movie that had no business getting made and then being unleashed on unsuspecting viewers via the ‘Great Dump’, aka Indian OTT.
But unleashed it is, and we’ve watched it, and there’s no way we’ll get the two wasted hours of our life back. So, we’re writing this review as a warning for our readers, so that no one else need go through the misery and torment of watching the insufferable movie that is Tiku Weds Sheru.
The story of Tiku Weds Sheru is an age-old one, with a done-to-death premise – pretty young girl gets married to a man as a means to make her starry-eyed dreams come true; but then falls for his good-hearted ways. There’s nothing new or interesting about the story by any standard. What’s worse is the treatment given to an already mediocre plot. The storytelling is shabby, looks downright sleazy at times, with cringe dialogues to match.
The setting of the story in the backdrop of Muslim middle-class households is even more rankling to the senses when all that the writers do is reinforce stereotypes associated with the community. Even worse is the way men, even the leading man for that matter, don’t think twice before slapping women right on the face. At a time when Bollywood has moved on to making films like ‘Thappad’, this depiction of casually brazen violence against women is an eyesore, no less.
Mediocre story aside, the poorly-written characters fail to get us invested in their sob stories, or in the story at large. We feel no sympathy or empathy for both Tiku and Sheru’s travails. On the contrary, the fact that Sheru moonlights as a pimp, shepherding hookers to rich clients, is enough to leave a bad taste in the mouth. Likewise, when Tiku sleeps with one such rich client only for the sake of a leading role in a movie, it leaves us with only one feeling – ewww and double ewww!
The writers and director may have lofty notions of having created a nuanced, moving film that depicts the dark side of the film industry. But believe us, that’s only in their imagination. Tiku Weds Sheru is neither nuanced nor is it affecting. In fact, it is a movie singularly lacking in humour, emotion or wit.
To sum it up, Tiku Weds Sheru is a movie that in no way deserves two hours of your life. Spend those two hours watching paint dry, by all means. But avoid Tiku Weds Sheru on Prime Video like the plague!
Music and Other Departments?
Gaurav Chatterji and Sai Kabir’s music is average. You forget the songs the minute they’re gone. The background music is similarly unmemorable. Fernando Gayesky’s cinematography is passable – nothing to write home about. Ballu Saluja’s editing does its job as expected.
Highlights?
None
Drawbacks?
Mediocre story
Poorly written characters
Below par performances
Sleazy feeling overall
Shabby storytelling
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
Not at all.
Tiku Weds Sheru Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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