Tiku Weds Sheru: A ‘Senior’ artiste weds a ‘Junior artiste’

By all accounts, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a senior artiste. He ranks on the high rung and is 49 years old. That he started as a junior artiste is now stuff that legends are made of. Avneet Kaur is said to be 21, though I find that hard to believe (17-18 is more like it), did a couple of film roles and a couple of cameos. By comparison, in terms of age and experience, she is a ‘junior’ artiste. In the Kangana Ranaut produced film, releasing on Amazon Prime Video on 23 June, one of them is called Tiku and the other Sheru, and the film itself goes by the rather unoriginal title of Tiku Weds Sheru, the trailer of which was released at Rang Mandir, Bandra, yesterday.

Almost as soon as you begin to wonder whether a 49-year-old lead actor will make a nice couple with a 17-18-19-20-21 year-old lass, Kangana Ranaut takes the mike and tells you that this film was to be made some ten years ago, and the she was to star in it, opposite late Irrfan Khan. Several things went wrong, including Irrfan’s illness and subsequent passing away, and the idea was dropped. The original title was Divine Lovers. A news item, dated 11 May, 2016, reads, “Actress Zareen Khan has been roped in for director Sai Kabir’s upcoming film Divine Lovers starring internationally acclaimed Indian actor Irrfan Khan (a silent tear rolls down my eyes whenever I read or see or hear about him). The film was initially offered to Kangana Ranaut.” Kangana confessed that 19 years after she came to pursue her film career, she would not fit the role of the heroine anymore, so she was looking for a young girl. Somebody sent her an Instagram post of Avneet Kaur, they met, and very soon, she became the lead actress in Kangana’s own production, a role she was to essay herself. In passing, does it sound a bit strange when Divine Lovers is retitled Tiku Weds Sheru? From the sublime to the conjugal? Who knows? The script might have undergone major changes.

It might sound like blowing my own trumpet, but read on…Just two weeks ago, I saw a film called Chidiakhana, at a press preview. While working on the review, I dug out the name of this 12-13 year-old who was cast as Mili, and said about her, in the review, “Avneet Kaur as Mili is a delight to watch. Far from camera conscious, she seems to be enjoying every pose.” The film was undistinguished and was probably completed just before the Covid 19 Coronavirus. And a mere two weeks later, she was the cynosure of all eyes, with praise being showered on her left, right and center.

Nawazuddin revealed suddenly remembered his early struggle days, when he was a junior artiste. “In one such scene, the director wanted the junior artistes with make-up. In a most demeaning manner, the make-up assistant sprinkled some talcum powder on his palm and blew it towards the faces of the junior artistes. He also averred that he likes quirky characters, and in this film too, he has played a quirky personality. Well, almost all actors like quirky characters, for it adds an extra dimension. Avneet was in tears as the trailer was played. It was a dream come true, being mentored by two personalities who are great in their own right. Kangana said that coaching her for the light, bubbly scenes, seemed easy, but she was a bit worried whether Avneet would pull off the emotionally charged sequences. But all her fears were unfounded. Avneet did even those scenes just right.

Digging back into her past, Kangana recalled that she went from audition to audition, till Mahesh Bhatt and Anurag Basu called her as a replacement for Chitrangada Singh in Gangster: A Love Story. “I definitely know what one has to go through to get a break, and I shared my experiences with the unit. Produced by Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika Films, the film is directed by Sai Kabir Srivastav and co-written by Srivastav and Amit Tiwari.

Tiku Weds Sheru follows the journey of two eccentric and starry-eyed characters - a dreamer Tiku (Avneet) and a hustler Sheru (Nawazuddin). The trailer showcases the ups and downs in the lives of this unconventional couple, a junior artiste and an aspiring actor, who begin their mad-cap journey as they hustle together to achieve their ambitions in the city of dreams, Mumbai. What started as the coming together of an unusual jodi, becomes the marriage of two souls.

“While I have dabbled in a few (few?) TV shows (many of them being dance shows) and explored the digital space, Tiku Weds Sheru is a pivotal milestone in my career. Not only is it my first Hindi feature film as a lead actor, I also got the opportunity to work with industry stalwarts like Kangana Ma’am and Nawazuddin Sir. Also, the film will premiere globally on Prime Video, reaching a wider audience. What more can an actor ask for!” shared Avneet Kaur. “Working alongside Nawazuddin sir has been an enriching experience as an actor, I learned a lot from him. Although our pairing is unconventional, the audience will see a very beautiful relationship between Tiku and Sheru. They have a shared dream that brings them together; and the film is an exploration of their love and aspirations which audiences will enjoy watching.”

The film introduces the never-seen-before Jodi of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur who are hustling to achieve their Bollywood dream. Prime members in India and across 240 countries and territories worldwide can stream the comedy-drama from June 23, across 240 countries and territories.

A film called Tanu Weds Manu, starring Kangana Ranaut, set the film industry abuzz 12 years ago. Maybe the similar nomenclature will prove auspicious in 2023 for Tiku Weds Sheru. Besides, the man at the helm of affairs, the director, of Tiku Weds Sheru, is Sai Kabir Srivastav, who gave Kangana the hit, Revolver Rani, in 2014, and has co-written films like Kismat Konnection and The Shaukeens. The supporting cast, culled from the public domain, comprises: The ever-dependable Zakir Hussain, Rahoul, Mukesh S. Bhatt, Suresh Vishwakarma, Ghanshyam Garg, Khushi Bharadwaj, Vipin Sharma, Sanjay Mishra, Zarina Wahab, Shubhankar Das, Hemant Kumar, Nikki Tamboli, Murari Kumar, Sanju Kumar Gautam, Aseem Dubey and Mahaakshay Chakraborty (Mimoh? Son of Mithun Chakraborty?).

As usual, MC Rohini, compered fluently, with energy levels belying her age,

Trailer: https://youtu.be/0mvglHtAGC8