BOMBAY TIMES (March 29, 2018)

Luv Ranjan’s Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety has been garnering appreciation from all quarters for its storyline and the cast.

Ishita Raj Sharma, who played Pihu, Titu’s (Sunny Singh) controlling yet gullible ex-girlfriend, is happy that her small, but significant role has left a mark. The bromantic comedy, she says, has given her an opportunity to showcase multiple shades, ranging from drama and comedy to emotions.

“I feel that it’s more challenging to make your presence felt when you have a smaller role, as compared with your counterparts. What matters to me is that I managed to create an impact and win appreciation even for a smaller role. Frankly, I didn’t get a response like this even with the Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise. It's overwhelming to see the way the movie has been received by the audience,” she says.

The actress feels that Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety has made people see her in a different light. She confesses that she had even sneaked inside movie halls, multiple times, to watch the film with the audience. “I have seen the movie four times in theatres and I saw the audience laugh, clap and whistle to my scenes, especially the one where I touch Alok ji’s feet, dressed in a bikini, in Kaun Nachdi song and the pre-climax scene when I say ‘Main kamini nahi hoon’. Their reaction left me spellbound and I couldn’t even react.”

On his part, director Luv Ranjan says, “Ishita has great talent to emote with a variety of expressions, adaayein and nakhras, which is rare to find these days. It is this speciality that she has brought to Pihu’s character and made it lively and memorable. On the set, we would call her the ‘expressions queen’.”

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 14, 2015)

In a career spanning over a decade, films like Murder 2, Grand Masti, Barfi! and, more recently, Aashiqui 2 and Citylights, made production designer Rajat Poddar believe that he had seen (and designed) it all. Then, director Luv Ranjan sat him down for two hours, giving him an exhaustive account of the sets he wanted for the sequel to his 2011 comedy Pyaar Ka Punchnama, and he changed his mind.

First, came the cheesy, 60-feet red heart, to be used in the song "Paro." "I had three days to build the heart in Film City, to be used on a set that resembled a wide, empty street in Delhi. The heart needed plywood stairs behind it for the dancers to climb it and had to be attached to a stage for the leads to perform. Luv even wanted the reflection of the heart to fall on the stage, along with fireworks," Rajat, who wasn't a part of the first instalment, reveals. The entire grid support, which was built using plywood and steel, flares up with light and fire.

If that wasn't wacky enough, the makers decided to go even wilder for another song, "Sharabi". The iconic temple at Film City, that has featured in hundreds of Bollywood films, including Amitabh Bachchan's iconic Deewaar and TV shows like Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, was converted into a club for the racy track.

"We covered up the entire staircase entrance and turned it into a discotheque. It was so much fun," Rajat laughs.

Unlike in the first film, where the college boys lived in a crammed apartment in Delhi, the new protagonists — Kartik Aaryan as Gogo, Omkar Kapoor as Thakur and Sunny Singh Nijjar as Chauka — have been upgraded to a sprawling apartment in a plush society, with a balcony that overlooks the city. "Technically, it's a 150-feet wide photo print of the city, a mural exterior," Rajat informs, adding that Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 was shot in Mumbai, even though it is set in the national capital.

The boys' house is not without its own quirky charms. "There is a bullet (the bike) in the living room that functions as a bar. We bought a real Royal Enfield and painted it a shiny red, converting its seat into a bar stool," Rajat recalls, adding, "There's also a cabinet, with a girl's picture attached to it. So every time the drawers open, it's like her skirt is stuck in it."

Among the many other highlights of the sets, is a bathroom. "Kartik's bathroom has a shower surrounded by glass doors. We wanted to keep the glass seethrough, but eventually decided to add a screen in to avoid any trouble with the censors," says Rajat.

But it's really the film's female leads who have got the better end of the stick, with three separate homes in the film. Nushrat Bharucha, who plays Chiku, the bratty daughter of a rich dad, lives in a colour co-ordinated penthouse. Sonnalli Seygall's Supriya, the daughter of a retired army colonel, resides in an old Delhi bungalow with her parents. "But the most beautiful design was for Ishita Sharma's rented studio. She plays Kusum, an artist. We packed her house with props. It is tastefully cluttered with books and paintings. The seating is low, with a rustic feel. Designing this place was my favourite part of the film," Rajat reminisces.

Portions of this Abhishek Pathak production, which hits the screens this Friday, have also been shot across Thailand, Bangkok and Pattaya. "But we were only running around getting coconuts there," Rajat guffaws, recalling that apart from arranging props there wasn't much to design for the overseas schedule.

Won't all the efforts put into designing the songs and houses be completely overshadowed by the one-liners? "That's the beauty of art direction; it is at its best when it blends in seamlessly with the backdrop. If you're pointing to the screen, spotting my work, then I haven't done the film justice," he reasons. 

BOMBAY TIMES (October 12, 2015)