TULSI
MUSTY SUBJECT…. GUSTY PERFORMANCE
by Vishal Verma

Rating:

What is it?
2007 belonged to comedies, buffoonery & scoops (Courtesy: Dhawans, Bazmees & Khans with Kumars). The year 2008 started with a shout ‘Halla Bol’ & reminded us of those hard hitting political potboilers during the 90’s and now writer director K. Ajay Kumar rewinds the projector’s and churns a tear jeraker ‘Tulsi’ which reminds of those Bramcharis, Khandaan’s and Gahr Sansar types of emotional cry curry which ruled the box office for sometime.  

So does Ekta Kapoor’s big screen avatar in the form of Mr. Ajay Kumar makes your hankies wet? 
Well in some moments it does moist your eyes and you feel sorry for the poor Tulsi (brilliantly done by Manisha Koirala) but for that you have to wait for 8 reels in a 16 reel flick. Not as emotional as the original ‘Chimndi Pakher’ in Marathi. 

No, No pls don’t be mistaken by the above lines, the movie is not any ‘Saas Bahu drama or any family tear jerker of the 60’s which use to have a ‘Bua’ or a ‘Mama’ as the baddies. And thanks for that. 

But its an emotional tale of a woman told in the 60’s tone were the women, gets driven by circumstances and faces challenges from faith and how she copes with it. There are no physical villains, circumstances are the culprit.

What is it all about?
It is the journey of a women Tulsi ( Manisha Koirala – Brillaint ) hoping for a better future for her four children. Her husband Suraj (Irfan Khan- competent as usual) loves her & his family a lot but at the same time cannot leave his obsession for the bottle. Repeated attempts by Tulsi fail to recover Suraj’s addiction towards liquor. In the meanwhile Tulsi comes across a truth that changes everything. Suraj gives up alcohol but finds that is beloved wife has only few months remaining, cause she is suffering from Blood cancer. Destiny takes another ugly twist and Suraj gets killed by his enemies. Now it’s all left for the ailing Tulsi who decides to give her children for adoption so that they can live a happy life in future. She faces the trauma of letting her child go one by one by her own hand.

What to look out for?
Noteworthy performances by Manisha Koirala & Irfan Khan. & Isha Trivedi.   

The whole adoption episodes during the second half are full of emotional currents.

What not?
First half is lengthy and the movie fails to move in any sense. Songs are a hurdle when one watches the film. Yashpal Sharma is wasted.

Conclusion: female audience may lend their tears and sympathy to ‘Tulsi’ & may pick up by mouth publicity especially amongst female audiences. But for those who are looking for sheer fun will return empty handed.