Stealing it all, Radhika Apte looks sexy as ever in a rustic dress!

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety Movie Review: A Great Entertainer in 'Anti-Women' Genre With No Social Conscience

One could easily argue that 2017 marked the presence of women and their rights in Hollywood cinema scene with films like Wonder Woman, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and shows like Big Little Lies and Handmaid's Tale getting appreciation from audiences and critics alike. Back home the year belonged to rooted stories with strong female representation in movies such as Lipstick Under My Burkha and even comedies like Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan and Bareilly Ki Barfi. Now, the second month of 2018 and we are back to 2008, with cheeky comedy, sexist remarks and misogyny splashed in front of the audience in form of a story. Luv Ranjan's Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety is a brilliant example of how films shouldn't be made at a time when the entire world is echoing the thoughts of equality and banishment on gender discrimination.

 
The film was being promoted with the tagline of 'bromance vs romance' and the privileged thinking of the makers ultimately assumed it to be a case of bhai vs ladki. No thought occurred in the minds of either the writer or the director that the material they were producing was dated to the core, and was meant only to entertain a certain 'privileged' section of the society, while the other half watches it with a clenched fist, laughing not at the jokes but at the sheer ignorance of the director.
The film is about two friends Sonu and Titu. While Titu is a sweet, gullible boy, Sonu is his guardian angel with a bat. He is his best friend, more like 'brother from another mother'. The obsessed friend saves Titu from the biggest evil in the whole wide world- Terrorism Women.
The 'poison' of society keeps dictating how the guys should live their lives so Sonu makes sure that his gullible friend (with some sense) breaks up with the devil, only to enter into another 'danger'. Sweety enters Titu's life as a perfect woman who starts taking care of everybody from the first shot. Then starts the fight between 'bhai' and to-be 'lugai', which continues till the very last moment of the wedding.

Now, to be fair the plot seems interesting and it might have been an enjoyable experience, had they kept at least the fight 'genderless' by making it between a best friend and a lover. However, the makers decided to take the path most sexist and turned the entire plot and message into entertainment for the 'guys'. But hey, we've enjoyed Pyaar Ka Panchnama, so what's so wrong with this film? Well, while the film lacks a basic sense of the world, it also misses the connection and over-dramatised depiction of something as relatable as friendship makes the film lose the touch. And because the makers couldn't show the 'faulty' behaviour in Sweety's character, they made her say it out loud 'twice' that she's the 'bad guy' here for basically helping Titu built a life away from Sonu's toxicity (How dare she! This entire gender needs to be banished from the planet and just 'bros' should exist but the two men shouldn't convey their weirdly low-key romance with each other because it's gay and we are making a film for 'dudes').
There are so many eye-roll moments in the film that even your eyes start hurting after a bit and you actually have to watch the film. The film repeats itself at every given moment and is stretched to a point where the day and night of every wedding ceremony is shown! There are certain scenes which will remind you of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, especially the treatment of the songs.

 

Talking about the cast, Kartik Aaryan and Sunny Singh do have chemistry and you want to root for them but the glaring sexism keeps coming in the way. Nushrat Bharucha is pleasant and deserved more than just narrowing her eyes or a plotting smile. But then, when has Ranjan actually portrayed women accurately? They are either conniving and manipulating or dumb enough to give two bucks about their life. It's always the guys in the film who needs rescuing from such poisonous creatures by themselves and their fellow 'good MEN' with no concept of heterosexual friendship or sisterhood in his films. Thus, you know what kind of audience is going to laugh the loudest or even clap at the cheapest, most misogynist dialogue.

It's time for Ranjan to actually grow up in his thoughts rather than serving up the same mentality again and again. The film had all the potential with a good cast to address the millennial issue of 'third wheeling' and that would've been fun to watch, but instead, they decided to make it an out and out 'guy' film, slamming women for even existing and that bit hurts a lot.
Overall, the film is a great entertainer in the anti-women genre, but sadly for Ranjan, it is not a proper category yet and thus the film deserved to called a sexist, 'eye-roll' worthy ride which will leave you frustrated and angry by the end of it.

Esha Gupta, who is all set to play the "badass bombshell" in Milan Luthria's Baadshaho, shocked her fans with her raunchy avatar. The actor posted a video of her displaying her sexy moves in a sheer lingerie on Instagram. Fans went gaga over the Jannat 2 actor's irresistible moves and could not stop complimenting her. In fact, some of them requested Esha to feature in a dance number and showcase her skills.
Esha graced the cover of FHM Magazine June Edition and her sexy pictures from the photoshoot were all over the internet. Esha has now shared a raunchy video on her social media-Instagram account and gave her fans a sneak peak of her latest lingerie photo shoot.
She captioned the video as, “Coming Soon”. Esha looks super hot flaunting that perfect bikini body.

 
On a not so related note, do you know that Esha Gupta is often referred as the Indian doppelganger of Angelina Jolie. Although she has not had a promising career in the film industry, but she is killing it with her looks on Instagram with her impeccable style.

Victoria's Secret Sold: Struggling Brand That Once Defined 'Sexy' Gets New Owner

Victoria's Secret, which once defined sexy with its leggy supermodels in their lacy bras and oversized angel wings, has a new owner. Now, the big question is whether the once sought after but now struggling brand can be reinvented for a new generation of women demanding more comfortable styles.

The company's owner, L Brands, said Thursday that the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners will buy 55% of Victoria's Secret for about USD 525 million. The Columbus, Ohio, company will keep the remaining 45 per cent stake. After the sale, L Brands will be left with its Bath & Body Works chain and Victoria's Secret will become a private company.

Les Wexner (82) who founded the parent company in 1963, will step down as chairman and CEO after the transaction is completed and become chairman emeritus. Wexner has been grappling with his own troubles, including questions over his ties to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was indicted on sex-trafficking charges.

The selling price for Victoria's Secret signifies a marked decline for a brand with hundreds of stores that booked about USD 7 billion in revenue last year. Shares of L Brands slid more than 7 per cent Thursday though they recovered somewhat by late afternoon. Shares were down nearly 4 per cent, or 88 cents, to close at USD 23.42.

In a statement, Wexner said the deal will provide the best path to restoring Victoria's Secret's businesses to their "historical levels of profitability and growth."

"The deal will also allow the company to reduce debt and Sycamore will bring a fresh perspective and greater focus to the business," he said.

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To successfully turn around Victoria's Secret, Sycamore will need to change up the corporate culture, reinvent the fashions and redesign the stores to make them more contemporary, experts say.

 
Sycamore manages a USD 10 billion portfolio including such struggling retailers as Belk, Hot Topic and Talbots.

"The management team at Victoria's Secret essentially was designing what men want, not what women want," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

"The brand is very embedded in the past," said Saunders. "It was always about men feeling good. It should be about making women feel good about themselves."

Victoria's Secret had a long unparalleled run of success. The brand was founded by the late Roy Larson Raymond in the late 1970s after he felt embarrassed about purchasing lingerie for his wife.

Wexner, the founder of the then Limited Stores Inc., purchased Victoria's Secret in 1982 and turned it into a powerful retail force.

By the mid-1990s, Victoria's Secret lit up runways and later clogged up the internet with its supermodels and an annual television special that mixed fashion, beauty and music.

That glamour has faded and so have sales in the last few years. The show was canceled last year, and shares of Victoria Secret's parent have gone from triple digits less than five years ago to a quarter of that today.

Victoria's Secret struggled to keep up with competition and failed to respond to changing tastes among women who want more comfortable styles.

Rivals like Adore Me and ThirdLove, which have sprouted up online and marketed themselves heavily on social media platforms like Instagram, have focused on fit and comfort while offering more options for different body types.

Meanwhile, American Eagle's Aerie lingerie chain, which partners with women activists like Manuela Baron, has also lured customers away from Victoria's Secret.

And in the era of the #MeToo movement, women are looking for brands that focus on positive reinforcement of their bodies.

"Victoria's Secret will need to empower women, not make them spectacles," said Jon Reily, senior vice president and global head of commerce strategy at digital consultancy Isobar.

Stacey Widlitz, president of SW Retail Advisors, a retail consultancy, said that Victoria's Secret designs in the last few years were going in the opposite direction of what women wanted, ever sexier and poorer quality.

And while last year Victoria's Secret started featuring more diverse models, including its first openly transgender model, the moves fell short.

Victoria's Secret suffered a 12 per cent drop in same-store sales during the most recent holiday season. L Brands said Thursday that same-store sales declined 10 per cent at Victoria's Secret during the fourth quarter.

Bath & Body Works, which has been a bright spot, enjoyed a 10 per cent increase. The skincare chain represents more than 80% of L Brands' operating profit.

"The (Victoria's Secret) brand has lost its way, while the lingerie market is not large or high growth, and has become commoditized," Randal Konik, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote Thursday.

"Furthermore, with athleisure taking over, the need for regular bras continues to wane."

The company has also been beset by allegations of a toxic work environment and its founder recently apo