Review of Punjabi Film Manje Bistre starring Gippy Grewal, Sonam Bajwa, Karamjit Anmol, Gurpreet Ghuggi and others. Directed by Baljit Singh Deo.

Star cast: Gippy Grewal, Sonam Bajwa, Karamjit Anmol, Anita Devgan, Jaggi Singh, Rana Ranbir, Sardar Sohi, Hobby Dhaliwal, Malkit Rauni, BN Sharma, Rana Jang Bahadur, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Nisha Bano & others

Director: Baljit Singh Deo

Producer: Gippy Grewal

Music: Jassi Katyal, Jayson Thind

Genre: Comedy

Running Time: 132 minutes

Synopsis: Manje Bistre is set during the early 90’s where a wedding is taking place in a village of Punjab. Sukhi (Gippy Grewal) goes to his uncles place for his sister’s wedding and helps finishing the last moment chores for the wedding arrangements. He along with Seeta (Rana Ranbir) and Chadar (Jaggi Singh) collects Manje Bistre from around the village for the guests who will arrive. There he meets Rano (Sonam Bajwa) and falls for her. But does Rano also fall for him? How does Sukhi convinces Rano and then her family?

Review: Manje Bistre is written and produced by the lead actor, Gippy Grewal. Baljit Singh Deo returns to direction after a gap of 1.5 years and he is also the DOP. We have not seen such big ensembles in Punjabi Cinema before this and maybe we will not get to see such in future as well because to manage such a huge star cast and make sure that almost all the characters are well established is not an easy task and credits to the team of Manje Bistre for doing so.

Story and Screenplay have been written by Gippy Grewal himself. The trailer of the film promised to mesmerize the audiences and make them laugh and the writer thrives in doing so. Right from the opening scene, the film tickles your funny bones and that momentum does not shift throughout the first half. Second half is where the romantic portion begins. Thanks to the writer for not making this one either a slap-stick or a confusion comedy, because thankfully I was tired of bashing most of them and Manje Bistre comes as a relief.

Screenplay of the film moves swiftly throughout however right towards the end some sequences went haywire but that’s okay. The funda of the film was clear: to entertain the audience and not to apply any logic out there in the hall and the writer succeeded in doing so. Dialogues were penned by Rana Ranbir and they were marvelous. They were realistic and funny at the same time. I personally did not experience the weddings of the early 90’s (I was pretty small then :P) and Manje Bistre gave a glimpse of just that.

Coming to Baljit Singh Deo, he is a craftsman when it comes to Camera. He has captured the 90s era beautifully on the silver screen. His work was satisfactory.

Coming to the performances, such multi-starrers need contribution from every actor to succed but I would like to single out Gippy Grewal. As Sukhi, he has come into his own. Much much much improved performance from some of his earlier forgettable films and Manje Bistre marks the resurgence of Gippy Grewal as an actor. Sonam Bajwa as the female lead has so much do in this film. She had a nicely written character and she does it in her regular style. She could’ve performed it more better because she has a great potential as an actress. The supporting cast comprised of many actors.

Show stealers were Karamjit Anmol as Sadhu Halwai, Gupreet Ghuggi as Daddy was refreshing in his 3-scene guest appearance. Rana Ranbir was delighful. Anita Devgan was her usual self – loud, bubbly, cheerful. I will run out of adjectives if I keep on describing each and every actor’s performance because there were so many of them. All of them have done a great job as a team.

Music of the film has been composed by Jassi Katyal (Jay-K) with Jayson Thind coming on board for Javi Na. The music is good but only Dubai Wale Shaikh and Javi Na are chart busters for the long run. Rest of the track are usual time-pass tracks. The title track and Vekh Ke Hassdi look good in the film, but audio-wide they are very regular tracks.

Overall, Manje Bistre is an ideal fun ride filled enjoyment, gratification, and hilarity. It is an ideal family entertainer with some powerful performances, great concept, rib tickling dialogues and what else do you want. Grab your Manjas and Bistras and rush to the cinemas.

Rating: 3.5