Sui Dhaaga Cast: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma Director: Sharat Katariya Hospitals are often the setting for pressure cooker situations – tensions build up and everyone blows off steam in a heated argument. In Sui Dhaaga: Made in India, writer-director Sharat Katariya infuses charm and humor in a ‘hospital scene’. The protagonist Mauji (Varun Dhawan) squabbles with his father and brother over money and his job prospects, while his mother, recovering from a heart attack, watches helplessly from her hospital bed. Even as this drama unfolds in the foreground, a nurse, until now practically invisible tending to another patient in a far out corner, explodes unexpectedly: “Visiting hours khatam hua. Bahar jaake bahes karo!” The three men, all shamefaced, troop out meekly. It’s moments like these that elevate this typical underdog story, from the ordinary. But alas, Katariya can’t save it from sinking into predictability. From the beginning you know where this narrative is going. Mauji and his family live on the outskirts of the city. Mauji is initially content following in the footsteps of his father (Raghuvir Yadav), trading entreprenurship for the security of a stable job. But it’s his wife Mamta (Anushka Sharma) who encourages him to aim higher – towards the dignity of his own labour, and to turn his talent for tailoring into a self-run enterprise. The couple struggles long and hard to become financially independent, and an attractive part of Sui Dhaaga is the love story that unfolds between them during this arduous journey. The problem is when this sweet story turns into a melodramatic mess. Where Katariya’s previous film Dum Laga Ke Haisha took hefty risks, Sui Dhaaga sticks to the safety of the tried and tested, including the oldest cliche in the book - namely the big business that steals the small trader’s creations. But cliches and stereotypes are known to work when applied with some flair. Too bad none of that inventiveness and flair is visible in the film’s climax, featuring a ‘cringey’ fashion show. To some degree Sui Dhaaga redeems itself in its authentic performances from an ensemble committed to the world they are projecting. Raghuvir Yadav is terrific as Mauji’s disgruntled father. He’s the dad permanently dissatisfied with his son – complaining bitterly at every opportunity and fretting about his job. Mauji’s mother, played by Yamini Das, is a special find. In one of the film’s best scenes she collapses to the ground, yet breathlessly worries about the water shortage and the many household chores that need attention. To his credit, Katariya pulls out chuckle-worthy instances in day-to-day scenarios. The supporting cast is also bang-on, like Mauji’s wannabe friend and neighbor Yogesh who is never without his sunglasses, even when he’s brushing his teeth. Yet the film rests largely on the shoulders of its leads. Anushka Sharma delivers in spades – her character Mamta has an inner steel and the actress brings quiet dignity to her part. Even in the film’s more tiring portions, you buy into it because of her simply solid performance. Varun Dhawan is earnest and tries hard, bringing an endearing likeability to Mauji, but he’s less surefooted in the more intense scenes. I’m going with two-and-a-half out of five for Sui Dhaaga: Made in India. This could have been a neatly-stitched up narrative with its well-meaning message about the spirit of entrepreneurship, but sadly it unravels in its troubling second half. Rating: 2.5/5 Write your review:<doc-sep>Sui Dhaaga starring Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma is director Sharat Katariya's second film after Dum Laga Ke Haisha. The film is enjoyable in its little moments and nuances, says our review. When Emma Stone sang her ode To The Fools Who Dream in La La Land, the 'painters and poets' could relate to her. The crazy ones, the ones who don't fit in the moulds of the day-to-day world. Mauji and Mamta are stuck in their gas-cylinder and stove-top-walled lives but the woman of the house does not want her man to play-act a dog's part for his employer. She is the one who dreams. He is the one who puts a smile on his face and says, "Sab badhiya hai." In Sui Dhaaga, director Sharat Katariya pays his tribute to the ones 'Mad in India', as Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma set out to shape his dream. Mauji (Varun Dhawan in an understated role) lives with Mamta (Anushka Sharma in a heart-touching performance) and his parents. He travels many miles in local trains and buses and on a bicycle to reach his workplace in Delhi's Connaught Place. He is the odd-job man at a store that sells sewing machines. He acts as a dog, metaphorically and literally, and dances to the tunes of Bansal, his boss. Sab badhiya hai. Till Mamta cannot stomach the humiliation of seeing her husband being made to act like a dog and eggs him on to quit the job. The next day, Mauji leaves his job. Then begins the struggle of chasing his and Mamta's dreams: creating something of their own. Director Sharat Katariya brings his Dum Laga Ke Haisha touches to this story from the 'real India'. He tells a simple tale simply. But there are those little nuances and moments here and there that make Sui Dhaaga something to root for. The film deals with issues that our indigenous artists face every day. Big brands usurping the work of small craftsmen, which we saw earlier this year with People Tree and Christian Dior, are woven into the story. Sui Dhaaga makes a case for local artisans who are swallowed by factories to make readymade garments that are then stamped 'Made In China'. "Toh kya likhe? Made in Ghaziabad? Tu khareedega?" Mauji is asked when he expresses his shock at seeing the 'Made In China' on clothes that are made after hours of his own hard work. Director Sharat Katariya gives his viewers a classic story of struggle and persistence. The film culminates in a predictable climax, but that does not diminish the experience of soaking in Sui Dhaaga. The film, of course, is not without its flaws. Sui Dhaaga feels stretched and heavy on your senses and you wait for the story to actually take off. Sui Dhaaga is not fast-paced. You know what you have signed up for. Katariya turns up the melodrama and at times, you do miss the freshness of Dum Laga Ke Haisha in his second film. But Sui Dhaaga is enjoyable. The film comes alive in the moments where Mauji touches his wife's hand for the first time. Where Mamta breaks down on sharing a meal with her husband and he tells her that she cannot keep weeping at every little thing. Sui Dhaaga expects you to take the long route. Because you are rewarded at the end of the road. Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma both keep their stardom aside and step into the world of Mauji and Mamta. Even though there are moments where you feel Varun Dhawan's boyishly handsome looks overshadowing the rustic Mauji, or Anushka's sunburnt face not fitting in with Mamta, the film gives its leads enough opportunities to shine. The supporting cast blends into their respective roles and steers Sui Dhaaga forward. The film is not weighed down by its music. Among Anu Malik's songs, Chaav Laga stands out. The cinematography by Anil Mehta brings on screen the non-glossy India of the rail tracks and the state transport buses. Sui Dhaaga ends on a hopeful note. It urges the 'mad ones' to dream and go the whole hog to fulfil their dreams. Because, "A bit of madness is key / To give us new colours to see / Who knows where it will lead us? / And that's why they need us." 3/5 for Sui Dhaaga. (The writer tweets as @ananya116)<doc-sep>Sui Dhaaga Director - Sharat Katariya Cast - Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma Rating - 2/5 What makes a tailor special? There are tailors who have a knack for hiding curves, those who achieve mastery over apparent seamlessness, those who establish a rollicking rapport with customers, there are fast ones who can stitch a school’s worth of uniforms in one night, and those who — as we saw in the recent hit, Stree — can measure ladies from a distance, merely by looking at them. Sharat Katariya’s Sui Dhaaga tells us Mauji, played by Varun Dhawan, is special — if only because he is played by Varun Dhawan. There is no discernible talent or specialisation to what he does, and this could have been potentially interesting: a hero without heroics. Unfortunately, this character is trapped in a depressingly dull film. Sui Dhaaga is a film so predictable that it is outclassed by its own theatrical trailer. The trailer doesn’t have groanworthy lines like “do rupaye mein bik gaye, Mamta” — “we have sold ourselves for two rupees, Mamta” — plus it gets over painlessly quick. The film takes over two hours to stitch together the same blasted story. Watch the Sui Dhaaga trailer here Entrepreneurship can make for stirring cinema. One of the most enjoyable examples remains Band Baaja Baaraat, starring Dhawan’s co-star Anushka Sharma. So fierce was Sharma that her character embodied the superb, serrated Hindi word for it — ‘farratedaar’ — while the film about wedding planners gave wings to young audiences. There is no such inspiration or insight to be found in this by-the-numbers affair. Sui Dhaaga is well acted, but films need more than flavour to stay afloat. This one is as exciting as embroidery — as exciting as watching a shirt pocket get monogrammed with a familiar logo, to be precise. It’s barely a Baaja. Hindi film directors may have hit upon a way to look earnest. They have realised Dhawan looks good working quietly, which is why — like in the marvellous October earlier this year — they make him do some chores. He silently cleans, makes tea, sews. Katariya’s film, however, also makes him red-eyed. Dhawan’s character Mauji is intended to be a happy-go-lucky fellow but is almost always shown to us flustered, nearly on the verge of sobbing. Maybe he doesn’t like that sweater-vest and Manoj Prabhakar moustache. Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma in a still from Sui Dhaaga. Sharma, meanwhile, is made to simper. She plays a crucial role, the wife who allows her husband to believe in himself: he only dares to dream because she dares him to. She’s very good, and the two actors work well together, with him selling the injuries while she sells the anguish. Also, after being mousy throughout the film, her smile in the final act is fittingly, blindingly bright. Raghubir Yadav is typically solid as Dhawan’s disgruntled father, and Namit Das — who also features in this week’s other release, Pataakha — has fun with his character, one who tickles people as hard as he laughs at his own jokes. Anushka Sharma plays Mamta in Sui Dhaaga. Without question, the film’s finest performance comes from Yamini Das, playing Dhawan’s mother. She is a mother who runs her house on autopilot, and can’t let go of instructions or kitchen utensils even when she’s collapsed from a heart attack. She chides her husband for crying over television soaps when he knows his heart can’t bear them, but later allows him to give her detailed recaps of those very shows — shows they both know she doesn’t really care for. Varun Dhawan plays the mild-mannered Mauji in Sui Dhaaga. Katariya’s films have nuanced asides and routinely good dialogues, but despite all that this film refuses to get interesting. The background score balloons in orchestral style when things are sad, and becomes merrily desi whenever things are celebrated on screen. Lyricist Varun Grover writes some simply evocative lines, and I find it interesting that this proudly make-in-India film chose Anu Malik — a composer known for making knock-offs of established products and defiantly appropriating them — to make its music. Sui Dhaaga is a feel-good film about dignity of labour, and the honest toil of a hard-working tailor. Too bad it feels machine-made. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10<doc-sep>Anushka Sharma aces her character Mamta, a quiet and restrained woman who has a core of steel. Catch our live review of Sui Dhaaga. “Sab badhiya hai.” That's the mantra that Mauji (Varun Dhawan) lives by. Be it his cantankerous father (Raghuvir Yadav) or the demands of his impoverished life, or his stagnant relationship with his wife Mamta (Anushka Sharma), or his irascible boss, Mauji deals with it all with a smile. The “sab badhiya hai” attitude only slips a little when he thinks of how his older brother — having married into a relatively well-off family — has become a “ghar jamai”. The amiable attitude is still very much in place when an incident upends the delicate balance of his life: at the wedding of his employer's son, Mauji is asked to perform as a pet dog for the benefit of the guests. Mauji treats it as a matter of course, but it is when he sees Mama’s pained expression that his pride is pricked. Mamta asks him if putting up with such abnegation is worth it, and why he doesn't think of starting his own business — especially since Mauji is a dab hand with a sewing machine. This is a slightly tricky proposition since Mauji’s grandfather used to have a flourishing handicrafts business. When the business goes bust, so do the family's fortunes. After one too many insults from his employer's son, Mauji quits his job in high dudgeon. Meanwhile, his mother needs to undergo an angioplasty, and Mauji’s family worries about how they're going to get together the money for her treatment. As Mauji wonders how to find a way out of their troubles, Mamta gently 'guides’ him (or rather cleverly points him in the right direction) to setting up a tailoring stall. Armed with his sewing machine and his skill, Mauji decides to do just that. Varun Dhawan infuses his Mauji with so much simplicity and sweetness, watching him on screen is a pleasure. You're the already rooting for him to succeed with his endeavour. As his helpmeet Mamta, Anushka Sharma is quiet and restrained, but indicates that she has a core of steel nonetheless. The whimsical background score imparts a sense of serendipity to the proceedings, and you're very invested in finding out where this story is heading. Despite the straitened finances (and other travails) of its protagonists, Sui Dhaaga prefers to laugh along with them, rather than treating them as a sob story. So Mauji’s mother complains that the number of pills she's taking is more than the quantity of dal she has with her meals; when doctors say that Mauji’s mother is losing blood in the operation theatre, a friend asks in all seriousness if he should bring along some “anaar ka juice”. Meanwhile, his mother's health troubles present an unexpected opportunity: a nightdress Mauji designs and stitches for her hospital stay (with discreet panels for ease of access for the attending doctors and nurses) catches the eye of other patients and he gets orders to make the garment for several of them too. This good fortune too comes tinged with its own challenges, for Mauji must now procure a sewing machine of his own. (The one at home is taken away by the neighbour who owns it, when the possibility of profit rears its head.) Varun and Anushka bring a subtle chemistry to their depiction of Mauji and Mamta. Beginning with the constrained communication of a couple burdened by the mundanities of their everyday lives, to discovering that they genuinely care for each other — it's such a pleasing evolution to watch. The abashed way in which Mauji gazes on this wife he barely knows but has grown to respect immensely, the near-fierce way in which the low-key Mamta watches out for her husband's best interests… this is a tender romance, blossoming amid the desperation of their circumstances. So lovely is this relationship to watch that by the time Mauji and Mamta get possession of the much-coveted sewing machine, you — as the audience member — experience it as just as much of a triumph as the couple themselves.Triumphs, however, are few, while tribulations thick on the ground. Stumbling at times, steadfast at others, Mamta and Mauji navigate whatever life throws at them. It helps that they have a vision: of self-dependency and entrepreneurship, of being able to reap the fruits of their labour. A textile giant’s fashion competition provides them a way to channelise their hopes and Mauji’s unique skills. Director Sharat Katariya is masterful at depicting smalltown India on the big screen, as he showed us with Dum Laga Ke Haisha. In Sui Dhaaga too, these nuances are pitch-perfect, as are the family dynamics at play in Mamta and Mauji's journey. For a movie that stays so true to reality throughout, a few moments towards the climax are the only time a very “filmi” note is struck. But in a wholly heartwarming tale, it's such a small misstep, it barely counts as one. Sui Dhaaga does have a larger and more obvious message than the story of one couple of course: that of reviving Indian arts and crafts, of creating products that do their “Made In India” tag proud. That it manages to impart this message without veering into preachy territory is Sui Dhaaga’s strength. On the other hand, it only lightly touches on the issues plaguing many of India's traditional weavers and embroiderers, preferring not to go into too much detail. In this particular aspect then, it does not offer too much insight. Instead, Sui Dhaaga’s focus stays on its protagonists. Varun and Anushka are endearing as Mauji and Mamta, and you see so clearly in their performances (especially Dhawan’s), why they're considered among the finest performers of their generation. Varun Dhawan plays his simple protagonist with so much conviction that by the end of Sui Dhaaga, you too chime in to say: “Sab badhiya hai”. This is a first impression review of Sui Dhaaga. Read Anna Vetticad's full movie review here. Watch the trailer for Sui Dhaaga: Made in India here:<doc-sep>
Sui Dhaaga Movie Review: Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma in film still. (Image courtesy: Instagram) Cast: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav Director: Sharat Katariya Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5) Well-intentioned but somewhat facile in parts, Sui Dhaaga - Made in India stitches together an agreeable yarn about a small-town wedded couple's attempt to set up a fashion design business in the face of a slew of daunting challenges hurled at them by their own families and acquaintances as much as their rivals. The film's lead pair, Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma, despite operating well outside their respective comfort zones, achieve optimum results. The two get into the warp and woof of the tale quickly, and charmingly, enough to help the film rise a few notches above the ordinary in terms of appeal and impact. Sui Dhaaga Movie Review: Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma in film still. (Image courtesy: Instagram) Mauji (Dhawan) and Mamta (Sharma) have been married for a while but they never have anything to say directly to each other. They do not as much eat together: Mamta is far too busy doing her in-laws' bidding to find any time for her husband. Theirs clearly isn't a match made in heaven. They are in a loveless relationship that rests on communicating solely via family intermediaries. Mauji's exasperated father (Raghubir Yadav), a superannuated government peon, frets over his son's floundering ways, but there is little on the horizon that could spur Mauji into life-altering action. Sui Dhaaga Movie Review: Varun Dhawan in film still. (Image courtesy: Instagram) He works in a shop that sells sewing machines while the wife is trapped in the domestic grind. His employer and his son treat him like dirt. As Mauji struggles to retain his dignity, any talk of the boy returning to his grandpa's calling - tailoring - is summarily shot down by his worried dad. The latter has seen his own father fail big time, reducing the family to penury. Mamta comes into her own when she realizes that her guileless husband could do infinitely better in life than serving the whims and fancies of his exploitative employers. She eggs him on to become an entrepreneur in his own right. The twosome strives to push their way out of the trough as Mauji gathers the courage to branch out and tap into his inherited tailoring chops. Sui Dhaaga Movie Review: Anushka Sharma in film still. (Image courtesy: Instagram) This is a terrain where weavers, embroiderers and artisans have seen better days and lost the gumption to dream. Mauji dares to buck the trend. The rest of the film is about his and his wife's travails, some parts of which touch a chord while a few others suffer from a laboured, contrived feel. Sui Dhaaga tells the classic tale of an underdog fighting parental cynicism, scheming acquaintances and his own shaky resolve on the way to realizing his full potential, but it isn't as if the character of the woman is condemned to secondary status in the film's overall scheme of things. Mamta, deceptively steely and clear-headed, morphs into a genuinely strong figure. Anushka gets into the skin of a housewife who sheds her docility and takes on the role of a driving force for a diffident partner. Varun presents an endearing, convincing portrait of a young man in the throes of a tussle to be recognised for who he is. For both actors, their turns in Sui Dhaaga would count as a leap forward in their evolution as screen performers. Writer-director Sharat Katariya (Dum Laga Ke Haisha) displays a refreshing adroitness once again at creating the ambience of a small town that sits on the edge of modernity but cannot break free from its traditional values. The Sui Dhaaga narrative is set in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh although portions of the film have been lensed in Delhi NCR. The characters that populate this landscape are largely believable. So notwithstanding the occasional wobbles that the film has to reckon with, it sails through in one piece. Sui Dhaaga falls well short of perfection, but it never comes unstuck. It passes muster as a wholesome entertainer embellished with humour, warmth, authentic emotional trappings and actors adept at going seamlessly along with the flow. Definitely worth the price of the ticket, if not more.