I call it the trap of making a sweet little film. One can tick all the boxes and yet get an output that is sub-par. Sample this one. Small town girl with lots of pluck. Check. Social messaging that is relevant. Check. Light humour-laced screenplay. Check. White-skin characters as the callous villains. Check. All ends well. Check. Does Not work All the pieces of cloth have been cut but the trouser still needs design and stitching.
#Mimi on #Netflix is the story of Mimi (#KritiSanon), a feisty young girl from a town in Rajasthan who puts up dance performances for western tourists, but dreams of a career in Bollywood. She talks to the #RanveerSingh poster in her bedroom and builds her own dreams along with her singer-friend Shama (#SaiTamhankar). Enter the livewire taxi driver BhanuPratap Singh (#PankajTrivedi) who is helping an American couple find a surrogate mother for their child. Mimi agrees to help and what ensues is the usual cloak and dagger adventure. When the doctor proclaims that the child could be born with health issues, the American couple decamp, leaving behind a heavily pregnant Mimi and a thousand explanations to her family. In the end, all is well but after a fair bit of back and forth.
Director #LaxmanUthekar builds on the premise based on the 2010 Marathi movie #MalaAaiVhhaychy, and delivers a film that is a cross between a romantic comedy and a social commentary. A film about surrogacy sounds about right and the set-up is done perfectly right with the right touch of humor. #PankajTripathi can make any scene shine with his sparkling performance. He is pitted here against the parents of Mimi, played by #ManojPahwa and #SupriyaPathak and the tension between them makes for some wonderful moments in the first half. In one scene, he tells Mimi “Driver hoon na Mimi ji. Hamare bhi kuch usool hai. Passenger ko bitha liya tho chode bina nahi lauthe”.And one has to give it to #KritiSanon for pulling off a first rate performance as Mimi with the right depth of emotional heft and acting prowess. And #ARRahman’s music is the perfect tadka one would say!
The problem begins when the writing either tends to be overdone or when the narrative starts straying into too many territories in the second half. The tussle between the core story around surrogacy and the sub-tracks that touch upon single motherhood, unwed pregnancy, bias towards fair skin, as well as gender discrimination weigh the film down. There is also the inherent religious bias that is thrown in for good measure. Mimi’s parents are relieved to know that there is a ‘father’ in the picture. But the very next moment, the stress is heightened with the possibility that Bhanu might me a Muslim.
The talented #SaiTamhankar plays Mimi’s friend but the role just does not give her the flexibility to do anything special. The American couple , John and Summer are portrayed as rather flaky and the only nuance to their characters is that they desperately want a child. As a result, their rather effective performance comes to naught pretty soon.
The film also sets up some rather absurd situations. When Mimi’s baby is born, the whole village takes a fancy to the fair skin and the blue eyes. The household begins to dote on the little child. Was this obsession with fair skin the right tack in the current context of equality and non-discrimination? The manner in which the stand-off is solved at the end is too convenient as well.
#Mimi is the perfect example of a good concept, marred by poor execution. Yet another film that some brilliant acting performances are unable to salvage!
