Toh Baat Pakki

Story: Meddlesome Rajeshwari wants to find a groom for her sister, Nisha. She chooses the engineering college student, Rahul and brings him in as her tenant, but soon changes her decision when she meets junior manager, Yuvraj, who happens to have a car and a company house. Will true love win?

Movie Review: Tabu returns after a long gap. That should be reason enough to watch Toh Baat Pakki. For she's a fine actor who has proved her mettle, time and again. This time, she opts for a light-hearted comic role in a film that's cast in the mould of the middle-of-the-road comedies that made the eighties' cinema so winsome and breezy.

Pitched somewhere between realism and drama, the film somewhat recreates that genteel era when cinema talked about flesh and blood people who didn't scream, holler and howl revenge. More importantly, their concerns were commonplace, like finding a suitable boy/girl and stealing a few romantic moments behind the back of meddlesome mums, didis and dadis. Remember Khoobsoorat, Golmal, Baton Baton Mein and the likes.

Well, Toh Baat Pakki may not be as riveting as the 80s entertainers, yet it rides high on sheer nostalgia. Also, it presents a different kind of cinema in an age that lays great emphasis on high decibel, larger-than-life drama.

Tabu's talkative, inquisitive, control freak Rajeshwari who is hell bent on finding the right match for her sister, is eminently watchable. Living in a small town, she seems to have almost perfected the art of the small town conversation, being totally involved in the going-ons in the life of her neighbours and fellow townsmen. On hearing about her neighbour's singleton tenant -- engineering college student, Sharman Joshi -- she immediately lures him to her house and tries to entrap him as a groom for her younger sibling, Yuvika Chaudhary.

It doesn't take a lot of effort on her part because the youngsters immediately fall in love. But the love story is short-lived since didi finds another dashing groom, Vatsal Seth, who happens to be Goddess Lakshmi's choice too. Time to throw out the old tenant and bring in the new....

For those who like their films to move at frenetic pace, Toh Baat Pakki may seem a bit laidback. But once you sit back and settle down for some gentle laughs, the film offers you an engaging drama with a tall act by tall and lissome Tabu. Sharman, carries on unspooling his careless charm after his charismatic act in 3 Idiots. A pleasant watch.

Cast: Tabu, Sharman Joshi, Yuvika Chaudhary, Vatsal Seth