In this movie Maanav (Arunoday Singh) is a struggling filmmaker who is unwilling to compromise on the script he has written. His girlfriend Ruchi (Shahana Goswami), a successful movie editor, arranges for him to meet Nitin a film producer. Nitin likes the script, but is not very sure of its commercial prospects. Maanav then suggests a story from the Panchtantra: A woman is caught red-handed with her lover by her husband and yet, she manages to wriggle out of it scot-free!
Nitin (Sushant Singh), loves the story, but finds it too short for a feature film. Maanav then creates three more stories based on the same premise: in a way, the Panchantra story travels in different versions to the modern times through the movie. The four stories are woven together by a common story. Mirch itself echoes this structure, with four stories mingling with the main narrative.
The message is simple - if you have your wits about you, you can salvage even the most impossible situation.
At a deeper level, Mirch is about the gender equality in relationship; and at a still deeper level, it is about how an artist finds creative freedom in today's mercantile world?
Mirch
Maxabout Review
Wastage of Time
Friday, December 17, 2010Seldom is a movie made in Bollywood which provokes us to put on our thinking caps. Vinay Shukla has been able to achieve just that with his latest release Mirch. A movie made for the contemporary audience, Mirch takes you on a journey inside a modern woman’s life, particularly her mind, as it raises issues such as a woman’s sexuality and gender equality in our society. A title like "Mirch" could surely delight your imagination to assume a lot before you actually watch the movie. But pre-conceived notions aside, Godmother director, Vinay Shukla will surely manage to surprise you (if not excite you) a few times, through the 128 minutes you spend watching this film.
The movie projects itself as a feminist revolution, by claiming to pack in four stories of female disloyalty. But when you watch the movie, the stories only prove that the female leads are just taking charge of their sexual destiny which makes it a fair call in most cases.
Mirch revolves around Maanav (Arunoday Singh), a filmmaker who takes pride in the two adjectives that define him- idealist and struggler (are the two forever married?). Along with sidekick and successful movie editor girlfriend Ruchi (Shahana Goswami), he pitches a film story to producer Nitin (Sushant Singh). This narration comprises 4 short stories tweaked to match the 'mirch' quotient as prescribed by Nitin (title prompter!).
Now if you've watched any promos of this movie or even heard about it, you know it deals with four stories of women cheating on their husbands. But what you don't know is that the treatment is such that the cheating wives seem almost innocent and their 'act' is portrayed like the only obvious thing to do. Ranging across eras, the stories explore different shades of womankind and present how they can strive to great lengths to seek physical pleasure (just like men). Laced with humour and deceit, the female protagonists who both play double roles, Konkona Sen Sharma and Raima Sen Be-sharma (both her characters are forever aroused) manage to have their cake and the baker too!
The husbands who put up with their unfaithful wives include Rajpal Yadav, playing a woodcutter (and a village simpleton), Prem Chopra (who makes for a convincing docile Raja Nirgun Singh), Shreyas Talpade (a suspecting husband from present day) and the inimitable Boman Irani (who plays an adulterous middle-aged Sindhi man, Asu Hotmal, who meets his match in a hilarious turn of events).
While the stories don't offer any remarkable twists, the dialogues could induce a chuckle or two. But what scores for the movie is the celebration of cunning that these women display in, well, misleading their significant others. Newcomer Arunoday Singh may have a perfectly sculpted body, but he fails to impress as an actor and Shahana has clearly spent more time doing her hair than working on her performance. Even the otherwise talented Raima tries to get away with seduction to cover up her excuse-for-a-screen presence. Predictably, Konkona and Boman (also the only crowd-pullers for this movie) come away as clear winners with their refreshing performances.
The songs are dull and stuffed unnecessarily to show passage of time.
Mirch may have failed in many sections of filmmaking but it surely has something for everyone. The women will naturally love the movie for its premise and for the tips on cheating. While the men just love cheating so much, they'd cheer the fairer sex as they indulge in their favourite sport. What a marketable idea, sirji!