Mimi Review: Kriti-Pankaj’s Phenomenal Acting and AR Rahman’s Songs Showed Emotion

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Supriya Pathak,  Sai Tamhankar, Evelyn Edwards, Aidan Whytock, Manoj Pahwa, Atmaja Pandey, Jaya Bhattacharya

Streaming Platform: Netflix and Jio Cinema

Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Sometimes it is easier to die and it is difficult to survive. Live, fight with society, fight with yourself, fight with your dreams, keep fighting. When Pankaj Tripathi utters these dialogues very easily, this one dialogue goes down in your heart with equal ease. And with that much truth, Mimi sinks into your heart. Laxman Utekar remakes a 2011 Marathi film with Kriti Sanon as Mimi but tries to adapt it to the present day. Laxman Utekar says through his characters how important the people of his world are along with Mimi in the film. The characters of Pankaj Tripathi, Sai Tamhankar, Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak hold the film firmly.

Mimi Review: The story

The film ‘Mimi’ is the story of a young woman who wants to go to Mumbai to become a heroine. Someone who knows Bhushan (Kumar) wants to launch him in a music video. He gives the cost of building a portfolio according to Mumbai, but for a girl from a small town in Rajasthan, that amount is out of bounds. Bhanu fuels Mimi’s dream of becoming a heroine. Bhanu is a taxi driver by profession. A Firangi couple’s search for surrogacy leads Bhanu to Mimi. mm is also accepted. She feels that with the lakhs of rupees she is going to get, her dream of becoming a heroine can be fulfilled. The story takes inspiration from an incident that really happened here and the firangi couple leaves Mimi in a pregnant condition and goes to their country. Mimi, who is hiding in a burqa with her friend in a Muslim area, runs in the entire locality holding her stomach after getting this information. Goes to hotel. When she comes back to her house, her parents are shocked to see their daughter in this condition. But, this is where the real film begins. Mimi strangles her dream of becoming a heroine but is not ready to strangle the unborn child. The film climbs up scene after scene from here and by the time the film reaches the climax, the atmosphere of the film makes Mimi a sightseeing film.

Bhanu (Pankaj Tripathi) helps Mimi to fulfill her dreams. In his language, he is the caretaker of Mimi’s dreams. Bhanu also has his own dreams which are expensive and Mimi – Bhanu together when the songs playing on the radio in taxi, the whole thing is that Bhaiya is happy to hear Bada Bada Rupaiya, then only this movie will give you an idea of ​​the situation ahead. Will give a small glimpse. Because if money could really easily give happiness, then there would not be so much sorrow in the world.

The special thing about Mimi’s story is that like every surrogacy story, it starts with the story of a surrogate mother made for money and does not end when she becomes a mother. Here Mimi does not become the goddess of renunciation. After realizing his love, he sacrificed his love and brought the climax of the film to the highest point of emotions. Mimi’s climax not only hurts her mother but also makes her feel responsible for her decisions. And coming here, Mimi separates from the films which have said this thing before.

Review and Other Aspects

There is no hero in the movie ‘Mimi’. is a heroine. One is his friend. One knows both of them. And, the heroine has parents. Obviously, Kriti Sanon has done the most effective role in all this. Mimi is exactly what her fans expected from Deepika Padukone in the film ‘Chhapaak’. Mimi is exactly the role Alia Bhatt’s fans would have expected from her in ‘Kalank’ and Mimi is exactly the role that her fans were doing to Kangana Ranaut in ‘Manikarnika’. Weighing on the scales of performance, Kriti Sanon has done better than these three for her character in the film ‘Mimi’. This is the best performance of Kriti Sanon’s career so far. The actress, who has shown her cheap expressions in the song ‘Param Sundari‘, screams at the time of becoming a mother by pulling her whole jaw and the fibers of saliva being formed between the upper and lower teeth, then the viewer shudders. Kriti has done twenty one work in each scene. Be it the scenes with Pankaj Tripathi, wearing a burqa with Sai Tamhankar or watching the procession of your broken dreams in front of your parents.

The film ‘Mimi’ gets its strength from its co-stars. Pankaj Tripathi has also been successful in getting the longest role in any commercial cinema till date. Neither he has become the father of any heroine this time nor the clown living with any hero. He is in the lead role of the film in the male cast. An already married driver who, in the greed of a little money, is entangled in a human situation where he has to live as a homemaker in an unknown family. Pankaj Tripathi is the Catalyst of the movie which means Catalyst. Then there is Manoj Pahwa in the film. Supriya is a reader. Sai Tamhankar and Evelyn Edwards in the role of American woman. Everyone has held their position very firmly. Even Jaya Bhattacharya, who was seen in front of the camera after a long time, was successful in scoring the goal as soon as she got the chance. The film ‘Mimi’ is a perfect example of perfect casting. Pankaj Jha has also been successful in making an impact.

As a friend, Pankaj Tripathi does what friends often do in Mimi. Firmly lay your shoulder and have your friend lean on that shoulder to try and hold him back. Pankaj Tripathi wins hearts in this character of Bhanu because his friend is not like us and your friends. In his and Mimi’s friendship, there is less friendship and more affinity, there is a closeness even in the distance. A relationship that looks a little less than friendship but still as strong.

On the other hand, her friend Shama is seen standing with Mimi every moment. Sai Tamhankar lives this character with utmost simplicity and truthfulness. She appears on screen with Kriti Sanon in every scene with as much brightness as Roshni, her character, brings to Mimi’s life. A true friend, Shama honestly shows how important it is in life.

Mimi Review: Star performances

Mimi’s story is very simple, we have already told you this. But what makes this simple story special is the acting of Kriti Sanon. Kriti Sanon takes you through Mimi’s journey from the first scene to the last scene in such a wonderful way that your mind does not move away from the film. It was a great experience to see him deliver great performances in every single scene. This film, Kriti Sanon, on the strength of her acting, takes it firmly till the end without any slack and without carrying any burden. For this he could get loud applause in the theatre. Some scenes of Kriti in the film really show that her acting has matured.

There can be no doubt about the work of Kriti Sanon. Kriti has done a great job in her character. Everyone is aware of Pankaj Tripathi’s style. Intense or comic scenes, Pankaj kept his grip on every scene and won hearts. Sai Tamhankar has done a commendable job in the film. His presence became the plus point of the film. At the same time, the acting of Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak will also have to be praised. However, Supriya’s acting was heavily overshadowed by other supporting characters.

Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak play the role of Mimi’s parents in the film in such a beautiful way that they leave their mark despite being small characters. While Manoj Pahwa plays a musician in the film, Supriya Pathak plays a mother who gets engrossed in her daughter’s worries. But both those characters are well written. Although both these characters do not look true, but with the amount of truth they are played by Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak, one wants to believe in their character.

Direction and Technical Aspects

Laxman Utekar knows what he has to say in his story and that is why Mimi never gets burdened anywhere. As simple as this film starts, it ends in a simple way. But this emerges as the highlight of the film. If there is anything missing, it is in the script of the film. There is nothing in Mimi that we or you have not seen or heard. At the same time, the story of the film runs far behind its time. It fails to connect you with today and this is where the film falls short.

Technically speaking, the film is the real hallmark of Laxman Utekar’s direction. Last time in the film ‘Luka Chuppi’, the matter was new and his confidence was shaken a bit. But, here this time in the film ‘Mimi’ everything is perfect. Story, screenplay, acting all three top numbers. The film messes with its music. AR Rahman again made a mistake in understanding the soul of the film. If the music of such a great film was alive, then this film could be remembered for years and years only for its music. Rahman’s hand misses the door from the very first song of the film ‘Pawan Sundari’. Rajasthan is not felt from anywhere. Yes, Kailash Kher gets engrossed in the last song ‘Chhoti Si Chiraya’ but by then the audience’s expectation about the music has been shattered.

Mimi Review: Music and Other Part

Talking about the music, the music of the film is Dia AR Rahman and even though you might hear this album separately, these songs fit perfectly in the completely missed template in the film. None of the songs seem unnecessary. While Kriti Sanon’s entry with Param Sundari instantly connects you with the film, AR Rahman’s voice-over Rihai easily connects you with the story but Dil Jeet Hai is the small chiriyaya used at the end of the film. While this song instantly connects you with Mimi’s fussiness, its lyrics in Kailash Kher’s voice will make you emotional. The background music of the film is better than its album and for this AR Rahman once again wins your hearts. There is something special in the music of the film that connects you to the film. At the same time, you also get the sweet smell of the soil of Rajasthan in its background music.

Ganesh Acharya has introduced Kriti Sanon in the film in the best way with the choreography of Param Sundari. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design lends a true feel to the film and Sheetal Sharma’s costumes help set the film in Rajasthan. Manish Pradhan’s editing does not allow the film to get cumbersome anywhere and the amount of praise he gets for this is less. Because Rohan Shankar and Laxman Utekar’s script had a lot of potential to be cumbersome. The credit also goes to Rohan Shankar’s dialogues for not letting the film become cumbersome. He has created the perfect mix of emotions with just the right amount of sprinkling of comedy. That’s why you watch the movie with a slight smile and you don’t even realize when there is moisture in the eyes.

Mimi Review: The Last Words

Mimi is a film much ahead of its time. The film deserves a grand release five – six years back from today and good box office performance as well. Seeing this in today’s time, there is less freshness in the film. But perhaps this is the specialty of the film that despite such a big drawback, Mimi’s truthfulness and strong acting by its cast leaves a small space in your heart and a small smile on your face.