‘Sui Dhaaga’ In the Age of ‘Make In India’ and ‘Pakodanomics’
Should we worry about Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma’s ‘Sui Dhaaga: Made In India’?
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Besides Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma, we were interested in the Sui Dhaaga: Made In India trailer drop because it’s from Sharat Kataria, the director of the delightful Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Also produced by Yash Raj Films - Dum Laga Ke Haisha refreshingly portrayed a more rustic India and its bittersweet tale of a small town wedding and romance (in that order). Entirely shot in Haridwar, the film had outstanding performances from its lead pair - Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar, as well as its supporting cast of Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Sheeba Chadha and Alka Amin.
Kataria’s upcoming Sui Dhaaga looks promising because it gets the tone right again. Varun Dhawan and Anushka transform themselves into their roles of an unassuming couple from Ghaziabad who’re gearing up to turn entrepreneurs in the tailoring business after a set back.
Both Varun and Anushka’s look and dialogue delivery are on point as they convincingly inhabit the lower-middle class world in Ghaziabad that Kataria has created for them. This in itself is a rarity in Bollywood when it comes to stars playing against type. To be honest, we aren’t surprised that Anushka owned her character of Mamta, but it is heartening to see Varun Dhawan embrace the role of Mauji with open arms.
To busy to read the story? You can listen to it here-
Raghubir Yadav, who we last saw in Love Per Square Foot, plays Varun’s dad and the father-son banter between the two inevitably reminds you of the relationship between Ayushmaan and his dad (played by Sanjay Mishra) in Dum Laga Ke Haisha. That their not so civil interactions happen on the terrace of their modest home add to the throwback to the earlier film.
From the trailer it seems Sui Dhaaga’s narrative has the textbook “underdog who emerges victorious” template. No one’s complaining about that since any story told engagingly deserves an audience. What’s interesting though is the indirect emphasis on the much publicised ‘Make In India’ initiative started by the government in 2014. Varun’s character (the underdog) Mauji’s decision to go solo with his wife Mamta and make it on their own in the tailoring business seems to have been synthesised with the whole idea of job creation and skill building.
Mauji: Apni banayi cheez pe Made In China kyon likha hai?
Friend: Toh kya likhe? Ghaziabad? Toh tu khareedega?
From the looks of it, Sui Dhaaga attempts to positively send out a message of self-reliance and self-esteem via Mauji and Mamta’s story.
At a time when Bollywood is being used to carry positive messages about the government’s initiatives, irrespective of its success on the ground (remember Toilet: Ek Prem Katha had not-so-subtle propaganda about both ‘Swachh Bharat’ and ‘demonetisation’), the whole ‘Make in India’ trip that Sui Dhaaga takes could be suspect if not for the people involved in the film.
Critics point out that little homework and practically no policy support was the undoing of the government’s ‘Make In India’ initiative. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for this Yash Raj film, Aditya Chopra along with Maneesh Sharma and Sharat Kataria seem to have an endearing tale in the pipeline minus any bogus biogas.
You can watch the Sui Dhaaga trailer here:
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