Sui Dhaaga

“SUI DHAAGA – Made in India” is pleasantly simplistic, but formulaic!

Driven by a sweetly earthy theme, SUI DHAAGA hits all the right notes with its setting and characters, but falters with its unconvincing screenplay which has all the trappings of a standard Bollywood drama. While it isn’t as likeable as director Sharat Katariya’s previous film “DUM LAGA KE HAISHA”, SUI DHAAGA still deserves a watch for its earnest intent.

SUI DHAAGA - MADE IN INDIA narrates the journey of an honest man, Mauji (Varun Dhawan), who has an inconvenient work and individual life. His boss treats him like a dog, his father never stops cursing him, and he hasn’t even touched his wife Mamta's (Anushka Sharma) hand despite being married for years due to lack of space at home. But he always carries himself with a big smile. Although he appears to be a useless man, Mauji is a champion in the art of tailoring. Fed-up of licking his boss' boots, with full support from Mamta, Mauji decides to self-employ himself and sets off with his sewing machine. The couple faces hardships due to their innocence, but Mauji and Mamta are resolute to fight back and not give up on their dreams.

In essence, SUI DHAAGA is most-definitely a heartwarming story of pride, perseverance and self-reliance, talking clearly about the need of social entrepreneurship as a tool for the social and economic development of our artisans, who are living their life on the margins due to the changing times. However, writer/director Katariya delivers a story that is too basic and its developments, a far cry from reality, thereby losing much of the authenticity that his previous film held so deeply. The conflicts lack excitement and the solutions are extremely predictable.

Having said that, despite all its script flaws, its presentation is authentic, with just the right set-pieces, ambience and costumes. A crisp runtime of only two hours also helps the film’s cause. While it may seem implausible quite a few times, you can’t deny the fact that there exists an underlying charm in all the simplicity that’s on display. Also, some scenes provide genuine humour, which compliments the overall theme of the film. The characters are sketched well, and the music score provides just the right tone to the proceedings. But this competent score from Anu Malik still doesn’t match up to his immensely soulful compositions for DUM LAGA KE HAISHA.

It takes you a while before you’re able to convince yourself that Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma are MAUJI and MAMTA. But they pull it off with great aplomb. Both of them break and make their images in the most compelling manner. Even the supporting cast is first rate.

To sum up, SUI DHAAGA – MADE IN INDIA is a sweet drama with a poignant theme, but is let down by a script that isn’t compelling enough. Nevertheless, it makes for a decent watch this weekend.