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Join UsStar Cast: Shubhangi Dutt, Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Jackie Shroff, Boman
Irani, Karan Tacker
Director: Anupam Kher
What’s Good: Elevating drama about an autistic girl with a seemingly-impossible ambition
What’s Bad: Maybe the limited on-screen use of the extraordinary songs
Loo Break: Nope! Despite its length.
Watch or Not?: Yes, watch it to grow as a person!
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 159 Minutes
User Rating:
Delhi girl Tanvi Raina (Shubhangi Dutt), the now grown-up autistic daughter of deceased Army Captain Samar Raina (Karan Tacker), has to move to Lansdowne in Uttarakhand for long time, as her mother, Vidya (Pallavi Joshi), who is working on autism, has to participate in a medical conference in New York. Tanvi must thus stay with her grandfather, Col. Pratap Raina (Anupam Kher), who lives there alone, with his memories for company.
Col. Pratap does not understand autism and is initially unable to cope with his granddaughter, who is all of 22. Dr. Vidya tells him that in her absence, he will come to understand Tanvi’s ways. And in that long phase, what she foretells comes true—even beyond expectations.
Tanvi, who has set beliefs and is also awkward in many aspects, is a natural at singing, and the first person she wins over is music teacher Raza Saab (Boman Irani), to whom she goes to learn. It’s a long upward battle for her, though Tanvi is very quick to make friends and establish a rapport with all. She develops a bond also with Col. Pratap’s friend, Brigadier Joshi (Jackie Shroff).
At one juncture, inspired by what she finds in her dead father’s room (which Col. Pratap has sentimentally preserved), she decides to join the Indian Army. She has found out that her father’s dream was to hoist the Tricolour at Siachen’s Bana Post, the highest battleground in the world, and only the Army can go there. Against the wishes of her grandfather, and with the blessings of Major Srinivas (Arvind Swami), who runs a military training institute and is found to have a deep connection with her father, Tanvi undergoes training. And then many things happen. So, is she recruited by the Army when autistics are not allowed to join? And what about her father’s dream?
Tanvi the Great Movie Review: Script Analysis
Ankur Suman, Abhishek Dixit and story writer Anupam Kher write the script with passion and dedication, as much as a screenplay with fabulously cerebral dialogues as a personal mission. The much-used tagline, “Different but no less” or the repeatedly-used “Permission to hug?” are marvelously in sync with Tanvi’s persona and the film’s tone, which is more of a “feel-very-good” thing instead of merely feel-good.
The ending is Utopian, agreed, but it serves a purpose. And I do think that the last 30–45 minutes could have been shortened by 10. But then, one must allow such impassioned scriptwriting and filmmaking some indulgent leeway.
The ballroom sequence, Col. Pratap’s interaction with Max, who is Brig. Joshi’s son, are among the specially heartwarming scenes, and the last meeting between Major Srinivas and Tanvi might find the susceptible reaching for their handkerchiefs. But for me, the early sequences between the grandfather and grandchild stand tallest and set my mood.
Tanvi the Great Movie Review: Star Performance
If Shubhangi Dutt does not win an acting award, I will be as much surprised as upset. A debutant actor, clearly one of the brightest talents groomed by Anupam Kher at his acting institute, Shubhangi is as outstanding, if not more, than the actors who played Aamir Khan’s students in Taare Zameen Par. In fact, if we consider all aspects of her performance—her facial expressions and reactions, her gestures, intonations and gait, the word “stupendous” alone comes to mind.
Pallavi Agnihotri and Anupam Kher are, of course, proven talents, and the latter, especially in the sequences wherein he has conflicting emotional reactions, are great too. Boman Irani shines effortlessly as Raza. Jackie Shroff is brilliant as Brigadier Joshi and Arvind Swami, in a more stereotyped role, shines as Major Srinivas. Gautam Ahuja as Max and Devender Madan as Joshi’s mother make a decisive mark despite brief roles, as does Ashish Kaushik as Dogra, Major Srinivas’ deputy. Iain Glen and Nasser put in seasoned turns.
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Tanvi the Great Movie Review: Direction, Music
To say that Anupam Kher makes a gigantic transformation as a director after Om Jai Jagadish all of 23 years ago is a no-brainer. Passionate now about his story (his niece, also named Tanvi, is autistic and is featured prominently in the end-credits), his work is exemplary in all respects. The convention of entertainment coming in freely amidst the underlying emotional wattage (which marked classics like Taare Zameen Par, Jagga Jasoos, Hichki or Taare Zameen Par on challenged protagonists) is there on full but individualistic display.
If he can be faulted, it is in the underused on-screen use of his elegant and tranquil music with superb compositions by Oscar-winner M.M. Keeravani and spot-on lyrics by Kausar Munir. Some songs are missing, others scissored, and yet the haunting tones of Goodbye, Sena Ki Jai, Tanvi Ki Jai, O Mere Manmohana and Man Chala Manwa remain with you long after the film and the songs are over. His background score is gently and soothingly in place, just like BGM should be. Seven months into 2025, and we have just two musicals in place—Metro… In Dino and this one.
Tanvi the Great Movie Review: The Last Word
Movies like the recent Sitaren Zameen Par and this one educate and elevate as they entertain. And in India, any efforts at elevating awareness of specially-abled or otherwise challenged but normal human beings can never be overdone.
Four stars!
Tanvi the Great Trailer
Tanvi the Great released on 18th July, 2025.
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For more recommendations, read our Aap Jaisa Koi Movie Review here.
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