Akshay Oberoi, comedy, Dharna Durga, Gaurav Sikri, India, Janhvi Kapoor, Kavita Pais, Maniesh Paul, Manini Chadha, movies, Nazneen Madan, reviews, Rohit Saraf, Rohitashv Gour, Sanya Malhotra, Shashank Khaitan, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, Varun Dhawan
October 12, 2025
by Carla Hay
“Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari”
Directed by Shashank Khaitan
Hindi with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in India, the comedy film “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with a few white people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A man and a woman join forces to stop the wedding of their ex-lovers who dumped them, so that the schemers can possibly reunite with these ex-lovers.
Culture Audience: “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and silly romantic comedies.
“Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” has a lot of flash but hardly any originality. It’s a romantic comedy misfire that is too outdated and dull to justify its 135-minute runtime. This badly acted story (about a man and a woman who pathetically conspire to stop the wedding of their respective ex-lovers) is one irritation after another. If that plot sounds familiar, it’s because it’s almost identical to the 1997 romantic comedy “Addicted to Love,” directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Kelly Preston and Tchéky Karyo.
Directed by Shashank Khaitan, “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” takes place in an unnamed city in India. Khaitan co-wrote the movie’s awful screenplay with Ishita Moitra. In the beginning of the movie, “regular guy” Sunny Sanskari (played by Varun Dhawan) proposes marriage to his high-maintenance girlfriend Ananya Bhatia (played by Sanya Malhotra), but she says no. That’s because she’s gotten engaged to arrogant Vikram Singh (played by Rohit Saraf), who comes from a billionaire family. Ananya’s father Pulkit Bhatia (played by Gaurav Sikri) and Ananya’s mother Kriti Bhatia (played by Nazneen Madan) are thrilled about this arranged marriage because Ananya will be marrying into a very wealthy family.
Meanwhile, “nice girl” Tulsi Kumari (played by Janhvi Kapoor) was Vikram’s girlfriend of 12 years, but Vikram abruptly dumps Tulsi and tells her that he’s marrying someone else. Vikram’s mother (played by Manini Chadha) never really accepted Tulsi because Tulsi is from a lower caste and because Tulsi’s parents are divorced. Tulsi’s mother abandoned the family when Tulsi was 13. Tulsi still has emotional scars from this abandonment.
Sunny and Tulsi end up meeting, they find out they their ex-lovers are marrying each other, and Sunny convinces Tulsi that they should team up to stop the wedding. As part of the plan, Sunny and Tulsi pretend that they are in a hot and heavy romance to try to make Vikram and Ananya jealous. Sunny and Tulsi foolishly think that this jealousy will make Ananya want to reunite with Sunny, and Vikram to get back together with Tulsi.
Tulsi and Sunny show up unannounced as a “couple” at the wedding rehearsals and pretend that they are happy that Vikram and Ananya are getting married. Somehow, Tulsi and Sunny convince Vikram and Ananya to let them be at the wedding too. It’s all so unbelievable and cringeworthy to watch.
Also along for this farce is Sunny’s best friend Kuku (played by Maniesh Paul), who is slightly less annoying than Sunny. Tulsi’s best friend Dharna (played by Dharna Durga) is skeptical about this scam, but she gets involved in these stupid shenanigans anyway. Sunny’s father Suresh Sanskari (played by Rohitashv Gour) and Sunny’s mother Geeta Sanskari (played by Kavita Pais) also make appearances.
There’s also a boring and unnecessary subplot about Vikram’s older brother Param Singh (played by Akshay Oberoi) having marital problems because Param is very controlling and forbids his wife Rakhi Singh (played by Manini Chadha), who’s an aspiring fashion designer, from going to Paris to do an internship with a famous fashion designer. Rakhi was chosen for this internship, but Param doesn’t seem to want her to have any career. Param and his mother also insult and degrade Tulsi to try to make her feel unworthy of Vikram.
This is the type of movie that has a scene where Tulsi and Ananya end up in the same bathroom during the wedding rehearsals, and they compete in front of a mirror to see who looks thinner by sucking in their stomachs. This scene is followed by a scene of Sunny and Vikram ending up in the same bathroom during rehearsals. Sunny and Vikram are both standing side by side at urinals, and they sideways glance at each other’s penises to see which one is bigger. (There’s no nudity in the movie.)
It should come as no surprise that Sunny and Tulsi become emotionally closer and become attracted to each other during their moronic scheme to stop the wedding. In other words, before the movie is even halfway over, you know how it’s going to end. The movie’s elaborate song-and-dance numbers have forgettable songs and are just style over substance. “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” has a lot of people running around acting ridiculous, people getting into shouting matches, and a continous barrage of idiocy. By the end of the movie, it’s not heartwarming but headache-inducing.
Dharma Productions released “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” in select U.S. cinemas and in India on October 2, 2025.