Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie review: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor’s DDLJ-coded film has nothing new to offer

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Written by Shubhra GuptaUpdated: October 2, 2025 10:23 AM IST 3 min readSunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie review: Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan's film  show up at the wedding festivities, and trouble and broken hearts and 'asli pyaar' converge. Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie review: Wedding crashers. Five star Rajasthan hotels. Brand endorsements for glittery apparel. And not to forget the most important element, shiny baubles standing in for characters: Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari settles creakily back in the sangeet-sagaai-shaadi template awash with star-crossed lovers and their parivarik conflicts.In short, everything we’ve seen before, in multiple iterations, over the years, because that’s literally all mainstream Bollywood rom coms seem capable of these days. Even the usage of the word ‘situationship’ feels familiar, even when it is mouthed by Ananya (Sanya Malhotra) to describe the thing between her and Sunny (Varun Dhawan): why should only boys have all the fun? She was his, and now she’s not, and he needs to deal with it, even as a BFF Bantu (Abhinav Sharma) shoulder comes in handy. Of course, there’s a bestie; how else will heroes be propped up?Also read | ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari isn’t my first Dharma film, made my debut with Dear Zindagi 9 years ago’: Rohit SarafDuly, Sunny Sanskari and Tulsi Kumari (Janhvi Kapoor) show up at the wedding festivities, and trouble and broken hearts and ‘asli pyaar’ converge. Cue, crowded scenes crawling with guests and stagey events — it’s a five-day tamasha, giving the chief wedding planner (Maniesh Paul) lots to do. Cue also, loud exchanges between groom Vikram (Rohit Saraf) and his overbearing mummyji and bada bhai (Akshay Oberoi) and bhabhi (Manini Chadha), who wants to do her thing, but will have to bash patriarchy loudly before getting her moment. Remember the sister in ‘Rocky and Rani’ who gets that speech about breaking free? Yes, very much like that.The actors are all made to succumb to the DDLJ-coded vibe, with Sanya Malhotra showing some nifty moves on the dance floor: if ‘Bijuriya’ is trending, how far can Sridevi’s ‘kaate nahin katate’ be behind? None of the new versions can hold a candle to the OG, though, even as the endless dance sequences and background music keep getting inserted, and we are left waiting for the film, and its characters, to return and catch our attention.Watch Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie trailer:Shashank Khaitan teams up with Varun Dhawan after Humpty Sharma and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, both of which felt fresh and of the moment, and both of which I had enjoyed, mostly. In this one, you can see the struggle to emerge from under the layers of heavy costumery and light dialogues. In too many places, the spectacle is allowed to overpower the screenplay, which is too busy whipping up hit-film-referencing dialogues and situations to bother about creating real feeling.Kissy-kissy, sure, but not enough bang-bang.Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Maniesh Paul, Akshay Oberoi, Abhinav Sharma, Manini ChadhaSunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie director: Shashank KhaitanSunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari movie rating: 2 starsClick here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd