According to reports, the Gujarati film Shu Thayu? (What Happened?) is raking it in at the box-office, making Rs 6.51 crore in four days of its release, with 900 shows on 212 screens in Gujarat and Mumbai.

Gujarati films have been recording an upswing over the last couple of years, perhaps by making films that appeal to the young.  Shu Thayu? Has been directed by Krishnadev Yagnik and produced by Belvedere Films, that has had hits like Chhello Divas and Karsandas Pay And Use in the recent past.

Made on a low budget, with minimum of song and dance numbers and no dandiya sequence, Shu Thayu? Is based on 2012 Tamil Hit Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (A Few Pages Missing In The Middle) —the director  Balaji Tharaneetharan has been given story credit.  The protagonist, Manan ‘Manya’ (Malhar Thakar), is a rather louche young man, who, within a few minutes into the film has wooed Deepali (Kinjal Rajpriya) and bullied her parents into agreeing to his proposal.

He has three friends, with whom he hangs out at the tapri (small tea stall)—Neel ‘Nilya’ (Yash Soni), Viral ‘Virya’ (Aarjav Trivedi), who speaks with an irritatingly slow drawl, and Chirag ‘Chikna’ (Mitra Gadhvi); they grew up together and have a strong bond, even though they constantly mock and humiliate the poor and less educated Chikna.

Due to a mix up in the booking of halls, Manan is to have his reception first and marriage after. A day before, the four go out to play cricket to pass the time. They cheat and quarrel during the game, Manan trips over a stone and hits his head.  He seems outwardly fine, but the blow causes short term amnesia. When he hears the words Shu Thayu? he starts narrating the incident that led to his fall.  After he has done this ad nauseum, the friends panic and take him to the hospital. The doctor tells them he has to be admitted for observation and the wedding has to be cancelled. Manan has no recollection of the events of the last two years, which means he does not remember Deepali, or that that he is to be married the next day. The doctor is unable to say off hand if this condition is short term or permanent.

The friends then decide that they will somehow get Manan through the next two days without anyone from his family or Deepali’s finding out that he is suffering from amnesia.  Manan now has a puzzled look on face and keeps chanting, like a mantra, “We were playing cricket, Chikna was bowling, Nilya was cheating…” the whole litany; and the words Shu Thayu? that set him off, drive his friends nuts.

It is hilarious as well as poignant how the three-- Neel in particular—lie and improvise, their way out of tight situations, with Manan blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time, and the others having to ad lib like crazy to prevent a problem. Every time Manan wonders why he is being made to dress up, they point to someone else and say, “It’s his reception.”

The marriage ceremony is more complicated, especially preventing Manan’s old girlfriend—whom he remembers—from getting into the venue with her husband. When he looks at Deepali, all decked up in blingy finery, he says “Yuck, so ugly, so much make-up.”

 It is even a bit touching how Neel finds a way to get Manan to do his bidding by simply saying, “Won’t you do even this much for me?”  The friendship and trust is so strong, that Manan obeys saying, “I would die for you.”

Shu Thayu? is a comedy, but it is also the male-bonding film to beat all male-bonding films. The boys could have handed over the babbling Manan to his family and let them deal with the consequences, but they do what they think is right, without ever thinking that if he does not recover, Deepali will end up with a mentally unfit husband; in this small-town buddy world, women do not seem to matter all that much.