What killed rom-coms and can Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar bring them back?

Six months later, Ranbir finds himself again spearheading a film, filmmaker Luv Ranjan’s romantic-comedy Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, that has writers, directors and the trade keenly looking at how it fares at the box office, for it is a genre that’s gone long missing from the big screen.

Co-starring Shraddha Kapoor, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is gearing up for a wide release on March 8. It is also a genre–in its several variations, sometimes more romantic, sometimes more comic, sometimes more dramatic– that has pretty much cemented Ranbir Kapoor in popular culture over the years.

He was the flirt who course corrects in Bachna Ae Haseeno, the loveable goof who will stop at nothing to win his love in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, a man saved by love when he is giving up on life in Anjaana Anjaani, the explorer who gave travelling ambition to a generation of Instagrammers in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, the man who finds himself and his calling through love in Tamasha, and the man who didn’t know boundaries in friendship in Karan Johar’s unabashedly dramatic Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

The films weren’t all successes at box office — while some found loyal fanbase, others sank — Ranbir finally stopped looking within and started to surrender to how the audience was perceiving him from the outside. The exploration stopped and the actor went mainstream with Yash Raj Films’ actioner Shamshera (2022) followed by the fantasy adventure Brahmastra a few months later.

Prior to the trailer of Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar last month, Ranbir had hinted that the film could be one of his last rom-coms, a statement that didn’t go down well with his fans. “It’s very hard, rom-com is the hardest genre. When you give me a character like Sanju or Rockstar, you’re hiding behind a character. There’s a certain paraphernalia around you to work with. But these rom-com parts are very hard. I’m just insecure that I don’t run out of a personality, so I can still keep delivering some entertainment through the genre,” Ranbir elaborated at the film’s trailer launch.

It isn’t that Ranbir is not keen to dive into more rom-coms. A source close to the actor shares that Ranbir, in fact, is more than keen to return to the genre, provided the material is strong enough. “It is simple, where are the directors who make rom-coms? Ayan, who did Yeh Jawaani and Wake Up Sid with him, has moved to Brahmastra. Anurag Basu’s whimsical world of romance is also not on cards anytime soon as he is committed to a lot of projects. Imtiaz Ali is not making anything on these lines either. Siddharth Anand has also moved completely to actioners.

“And all the good, memorable rom-coms have only come from these solid directors. So, if the argument is, where are the good old romantic comedy dramas, the reality also is, where are the filmmakers?”

It isn’t a misplaced argument. In 2021, filmmaker Karan Johar–who made a generation swoon and fall in love through his larger than life aspirational romantic stories–famously declared that in Hindi cinema, “the love story is dead.” Johar’s observations were on point about the industry, which had transitioned itself from grand love stories, easy-breezy rom-coms to “high concept” storytelling. Johar’s own production, Meenakshi Sundareshwar directed by Vivek Soni, was originally a story for theatrical, but was eventually made for Netflix. There was no space for love, at least on the big screen.

“It isn’t that the industry doesn’t have romantic scripts going around, but one film needs to click majorly for the tide to turn,” a writer told indianexpress.com. According to the source, if established makers aren’t necessary looking at romance, it’s time actors turn their gaze–and in turn put their faith–in newer voices. “May be the new filmmakers and writers have a story to tell, but who’s going to bet on them if the producers think rom-com is no more a safe bet?”

Which is why, sources in the trade are enthusiastically tracking the advance booking numbers of Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. The film will have a wide release on Wednesday and will enjoy a five-day extended run. A never before heard for a rom-com, which might make the film open at a whopping Rs 15 cr plus.

“If the film succeeds, it will change everything,” a source from a production house shares with indianexpress.com. “All of us are really looking at scripts which are in this space, but post pandemic there is no history to fall back on. If the film clicks, we are definitely looking at a revival of rom-coms, theatrically.”

Luv Ranjan has had a solid, consistent box office record with films like Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. But his films are more comedy than romance. Things, however, can change with Ranbir in the mix.

“If you look at the songs, they way the film has been mounted, the Ranbir-Shraddha factor, the template is very rom-com,” a trade source shared, adding, “but one must not expect a Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani with this one. It is likely going to be more funny, more family oriented. But either way, it is a step in the right direction and hence Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar matters.”