Movie Review : Mirch

The promos of Mirch movie had abruptly caught one's eye, thanks to its attention-grabbing promos, which are full of love-making scenes. You’re forewarned at the outset that this movie talks of four adulterous people. But the question is, have not we watched men cheating women in so many movies in the past? Haven't women caught their men with their pants down, in the past? So what's new in Mirch? For a change, the women in Mirch are into adultery. They are the ones who are cheating on their husbands and in each of those stories the woman manages to go scot-free when caught red-handed with her lover.

Was asked a pertinent question while watching this movie: Is the audience matures plenty to handle the portrayal of female sexuality on the screen? Well, first of all, moviegoers are mature enough to understand and laud themes and subjects and Mirch which director Vinay Shukla refers to as a celebration of womanhood, narrates four separate stories based on subject of women emancipation and also dabbles with gender equality in a relationship. It is a sex comedy with generous doses of wit; not a serious take on feminism. Once more, it is erotic in parts, but not vulgar. We have seen lots of movies dealing with male sexuality, but Mirch deals with women's libido and that too in a funny way.

Vinay Shukla’s new effort is structurally quite innovative, something that hasn't been tried yet. However, it wishes to clarify that the four individualistic stories in Mirch are not remotely similar to the Dus Kahaniya, Darna Zaroori Hai, Darna Mana Hai format. There is a fifth story that connects to them.

The first story, from 'Panchtantra', is placed in ancient times, the second is placed inspired by 14th century Italian classic 'The Decameron' by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. The third is from an Italian fable set in contemporary times and the fourth has been written by Shukla himself. All stories are Interesting, but the level of interest in those four stories fluctuates radically. The first two stories are wonderful, mainly because the 'games' women play in those stories catches you by complete surprise, the third and fourth stories are a sharp contrast. You feel let down because they're outright predictable and not a patch on the ones that you had watched in the first hour. 

Mirchs has two stories in the first half [great] and two stories in the second (disappointing), while the fifth one, which binds all the earlier tales, is a downer as well. Eventually, it falls short of expectations!

Arunoday Singh as Maanav is a struggling writer unwilling to compromise on the script he has written. His girlfriend Konkona Sen Sharma as Ruchi, a successful film editor, arranges for him to meet Sushant Singh as 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 Raima Sen is caught red-handed with her lover Arunoday Singh by her husband Rajpal Yadav and yet, she manages to wriggle out of it scot-free.

Nitin loves the story, but finds it too short for a feature movie. Maanav then creates three more stories based on the same premise. In a way, the Panchtantra story travels in different versions to the modern times through the movie. The four stories are woven together by a common story.

There is not much scope for music in Mirch and although there're a couple of tracks, 'Badra' sang by Monty Sharma is easily the best of the lot. It has a haunting tune and its placement in the narrative is appropriate. Also noteworthy are the dialogue, especially in the first two stories.

Mirch stars some of the best names in the business. Konkona is excellent, Raima conveys so much through her expressive eyes, Shahana is wonderful and Ila Arun is first-rate. A major part of the movie is placed on Arunoday Singh's broad shoulders and he stands tall with a natural, good act. Sushant Singh is perfect, Shreyas Talpade is sincere, Rajpal Yadav is earnest, Boman Irani is just right, Prem Chopra is flawless and Tisca Chopra is fiery. Saurabh Shukla shines in a brief role.