Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar is two films in one, promoted as a third completely different one altogether. You walk in expecting a typical Luv Ranjan film with the twist of both of its lead characters being anti-heroes but get confronted by a Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi-esque love story coupled with family drama.
The film shines the brightest during its comedy scenes (the FRIENDS finale inspired family banter in the car is the highlight of the film). The meta jokes land well. Bassi delivers one-liners like he did when he was at his peak as a standup comedian and while his own subplot in the film makes no sense, he chews whatever bite he's given well. The child actor, Inayat Verma, is the definition of chhota packet bada dhamaka. She plays her character with such ease and brilliance and hits both the punchlines and the slapstick comedy with such perfection, I became a fan. The supporting cast in general is fantastic. Shraddha, as always, looks gorgeous in the film and performs fairly until her shortcomings in the acting department get highlighted in scenes where she has to deliver purely through her expressions. This isn't anywhere close to Ranbir's best performance, in fact he puts his acting skills on the backburner, but apart from some scenes where he unnaturally breaks the fourth wall due to the director's insistence, he does fit in well.
The film, however, tests your patience in emotional scenes in the second half, completely losing both its tonality and crowd pull. Attempts at using songs to pick up pace and audience interest fall flat in the last hour. The film picked up a pretty relevant topic in the second half but chose a convenient way out of it. I would've preferred the realistic ending they were going for until the U-turn that they took in the last 30 minutes but that wouldn't have had the commercial appeal that is needed to carry Bollywood films to the Hit verdict these days. The background score of the film is fantastic and it does have some catchy chartbusters too but it has one too many songs for its own good. The direction is pretty mediocre as is the writing but I walked in leaving my brain in the fridge at home so I was able to look past that.
Overall, the film is a decent one-time watch constructed calculatively to make it flow with the masses and even if you aren't one of them you could enjoy it for its comedy.
