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HomeOpinionSui Dhaaga looks like a tedious Make in India advertisement

Sui Dhaaga looks like a tedious Make in India advertisement

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Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan starrer Sui Dhaaga earnestly wants to be an honest, feel-good film, but is not very well sewn.

A deluge of Sui Dhaaga memes had hit social media as soon as its trailer was out—and everybody lapped it up. One could guess the plot of the movie just by looking at these memes. Directed by Sharat Katariya and starring Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan, Sui Dhaaga tries to tell a classic rags-to-riches story. But here’s the problem—just like Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha comes across as a PR exercise for Swachh Bharat, Sui Dhaaga also looks like long (yawning) Make in India advertisement.

In Sui Dhaaga, Mamata (Anushka Sharma) and Mauji (Varun Dhawan) want to live a “life with dignity”. Sole breadwinner of their house in the outskirts of Delhi, Mauji leaves his job to stitch his own clothes. Note: The man Mauji worked for pawned sewing machines the government had allocated for Make in India programmes. These clever nuances are expected from Katariya, a man who has directed Bheja Fry and Titli.


Also read: Pataakha is about two sisters who fight fate, and each other


The use of “Made in China” tags on locally produced clothes is what irks Mauji the most and is one of the main reasons that he wants to become an entrepreneur. Beside him is strong and determined Mamata, the woman who functions as his guide and enabler.

Life isn’t easy, but with Mauji’s dexterity and Mamata’s natural marketing abilities, their (ad)venture begins. Many things stand in this honest couple’s way: glaring class divide, patriarchy, and burly rich corporates. Anushka Sharma’s breezy acting and Varun Dhawan’s convincing Mauji draw the audience in, as does the well-timed emotional music. Lyricist Varun Grover and music composer Anu Malik (don’t snigger) have done a good job with the music that guides the film than feel like odd pimples its face.

If this film was judged on the basis of its actors and director, it would pass many litmus tests. However, art has never been apolitical. The movie is not called Sui Dhaaga, but Sui Dhaaga: Made in India. By donning that title, it has de facto established itself as the success story of a fledgeling government policy. The film appropriates the narrative of the poor who may or may not be receiving the benefits of the several schemes doled out to them by the government. While watching Sui Dhaaga, one wonders about the thousands of stories that never became successes.


Also read: Remembering Yash Chopra, a filmmaker who was more than just the ‘King of Romance’


Sui Dhaaga wants, very earnestly, to warm the cockles of your heart. It seeks to weave in self-reliance, small-town success, and a Lagaan-like desi zeal but ends up being not properly sewn together.

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