Actor goes sleuthing in a Diljit Dosanjh-Fatima Sana Shaikh romcom
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 2, 2020)

On Christmas Eve last year, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Diljit Dosanjh and Manoj Bajpayee came together for their first collaboration, a comedy titled Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, helmed by Abhishek Sharma. The film kicked off on January 6 in Mumbai.

Mirror was the first to report (February 14) that Fatima is playing a Marathi mulgi in this Zee Studios production. Now, we have learnt that Manoj is a ‘wedding detective’ in the film. In India, this would refer to a private investigator who, once a match is arranged, is hired to do a background check on the prospective groom to ensure that he is financially sound, not an alcoholic, a womaniser, or worse, already married. Sometimes, the snooping and the digging extends to the bride-to-be as well to ascertain that she is not involved with anyone else.

Confirming the same, Manoj informs that they had lots of fun shooting for this humorous film and working with the Parmanu and Tere Bin Laden director was a joy. “Abhishek is a fun-loving guy who does not carry any baggage. In fact, he doesn’t even take himself seriously yet is very clear about what he wants to make. That fascinated me about him,” adds Manoj, all praise for the ensemble cast, including Manoj and Seema Pahwa, Diljit and Fatima. The family comedy is set in 1990s Mumbai and offers an interesting take on arranged marriages. The team recreated chawls and vintage libraries at Filmcity. “There was innocence before the world was exposed to social media. Since there was no Facebook or Instagram, wedding investigators were hired to stalk people,” Abhishek had explained earlier. Manoj informs that the shooting is over and work on post-production will start soon.