Tanvi The Great

Tanvi The Great Movie Review Rating:

Star 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 Sitaare 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.