Bollywood has long had a bad habit of rehashing Hollywood hits, dressing them in colourful costumes, adding a few item songs, and calling it “fresh cinema.” But Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, takes this lazy formula to the next level. Turns out, the so-called “original rom-com” has an uncanny resemblance to Hollywood’s 2022 I Want You Back—just with some desi tadka.
For those who’ve seen the 2022 American film, the déjà vu is real. A boy-girl duo team up to sabotage each other’s exes and in the process, end up discovering their own connection. Sound familiar? Bollywood simply put that into a blender with dhinchak songs, shiny lehengas, and over-the-top dialogues, and voilà—new release! Except, it’s not really new.
Fans on social media aren’t impressed either. Trolls are already calling the movie “Bollywood’s Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V special,” while some are joking that the scriptwriter deserves a copyright strike. One sarcastic comment read, “I wanted an original rom-com, not ‘I Want You Back’ in a Manish Malhotra outfit.” Another quipped, “At this rate, Bollywood’s next move will be remaking SpongeBob with Arjun Kapoor.”
The problem isn’t just the lack of originality—it’s also the sheer audacity to market this as something fresh. Janhvi Kapoor once again plays the glossy, predictable heroine with her nasal dialogue delivery and expressionless charm, while Varun Dhawan is reduced to repeating the same cheeky-boy-next-door antics we’ve seen a hundred times before. The film is less about storytelling and more about who’s wearing which designer outfit in which scene.
Bollywood audiences have matured. They’ve got global access to content—K-dramas, Hollywood, anime—and they can smell a rip-off from miles away. In such a competitive release slot this September, where films like Mirai and Demon Slayer are bringing authentic storytelling, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari looks like the odd, recycled guest at the party.
Copy-paste creativity can only take you so far. If Bollywood continues to slap glitter on borrowed ideas and call it cinema, films like Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari will serve as nothing more than an expensive joke. Audiences deserve better than reheated leftovers, even if they’re served with extra ghee and choreographed dance numbers.