Last updated: 8 March 2023

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Film: Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (Hindi), translates to ‘You are a liar, I am sly’

Directed by: Luv Ranjan

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Anubhav Singh Bassi, Dimple Kapadia, Hasleen Kaur, Boney Kapoor, Inayat Verma, Monica Chaudhary, Kartik Aaryan (cameo), Nushrratt Bharuccha (cameo)

Highlights: Performances of Ranbir Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Hasleen Kaur (sister) and Inayat Verma (niece), dialogues (second half), impressive cinematography and drone shots.

Lowlights: runtime, lack of emotion (possibly due to too many frames of individual actors speaking to the camera during intense scenes), slow and uninteresting screenplay, several stretched scenes and ridiculous climax.

Cinemania rating: ★★☆☆☆

Detailed Review

Plot: Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar follows an affluent 30-year-old man Mickey (Ranbir Kapoor) who runs his multiple family businesses but also has time to run an additional “relationship break-up” business with the help of his best friend Manu (Anubhav Singh Bassi). At Manu’s bachelor party in Spain, Mickey meets Manu’s fiancée’s best friend Tinni (Shraddha Kapoor). They fall in love but their relationship hits a roadblock after Tinni meets Mickey’s family.

Performances: Ranbir Kapoor is exceptional as Mickey aka Rohan Arora but we’ve seen him do the same role in his previous films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and Tamasha (2015). Shraddha Kapoor gets a flamboyant introduction through a song but her performance doesn’t match up to Ranbir Kapoor’s – her forehead and eyebrows remain stiff throughout the film regardless of whether it’s a sad, happy, nervous, confused, emotional or flirtatious moment.

The rest of the supporting cast do justice to their roles apart from Mickey’s brother-in-law (Amber Rana) who has nothing to do apart from following the family wherever they go. Child actor Inayat Verma, playing Ranbir Kapoor’s niece, does a fantastic job. Nushrratt Bharuccha delivers a brilliant performance in her cameo whilst Kartik Aaryan overacts in his cameo (he needs to stop smiling in all situations).

Technical departments: The romantic drama has high production value with impressive cinematography and camerawork capturing Spain’s picturesque locations. Editing could have been better – a lot of scenes needed trimming and individual shots could have been replaced with over-the-shoulder shots in several key scenes. Luv Ranjan’s direction is basic and lacks innovation. With a wafer-thin story, the screenplay (Rahul Mody and Luv Ranjan) needed to be racy and entertaining, but every scene drags on forever. The climax scene is ridiculous, outdated and lacks consistency. In one frame the display system at the airport says “gate closed” and in the next frame it says “gate open” whilst the gate is still closed.

The dialogues in the first half are partly cringy (Shraddha’s Tinni says – I like mum, I like dad, I don’t like aunt – and Ranbir’s Mickey simply repeats her lines as a way of impressing her). Also the scenes where Mickey stalks Tinni in Spain until she gives in are a bit problematic. The dialogues in the second-half of the film are well-written though.

In summary, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is a disappointing romantic drama that is worth watching only for Ranbir Kapoor’s performance and a couple of songs by Pritam.

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