MiMi- Time-Worn Tradition of Bollywood

By Anjali

Bollywood has always run on the notion of, “All is well that ends well”. There is a very scarce number of films that have an experimental ending. MiMi is streaming exclusively on Netflix and Jio Cinema from July 26, 2021. However, there is no keystroke formula for the success of a remake in B-Town. In the past few decades, we have witnessed some gigantic remakes of some average films. Also, some of them can’t match the supremacy of the original films. But, to conclude, in which category Laxman Utekar’s MiMi belongs is a little dicey. MiMi is a remake of a Marathi film “Mala Aai Vhhaychy” by Samruddhi Porey’s National Award-Winner in the year 2011. Surrogacy being a subjective topic in India, MiMi is almost a decade late to talk about this taboo in our society. Also, the markets have tried to make it appealing to the masses by going overboard and Bollywoodised it to melodramatic extent. 

#Mimi expected everything, except for this unexpected journey! 😉
Watch the glimpse of her unexpected story with your family. #MimiTrailer out now: https://t.co/S9jZvejnfR
Releasing on 30th July on @JioCinema & @NetflixIndia. #NothingLikeWhatYoureExpecting

— Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) July 13, 2021

A film is not made by portraying a single genre. There are several sub-genres also. Apart from portraying the social taboo of surrogacy, it has also shown casteism, foreigner’s exploiting Indians, and the dark side of a custom. MiMi is the story of a young girl (Kriti Sanon) who stays in Rajasthan with her family. She aspires to be a Bollywood actress and a die-hard fan of Ranveer Singh. Just like a typical small-town girl with high dreams. She needs money to go to Mumbai and be an actor in B-Town. Bhanu Pratap Pandey (Pankaj Tripathi) introduces her to a foreigner couple, MiMi meets them who wants a healthy and young surrogate mother for Rs. 20 Lakh. However, MiMi was shocked after knowing about the concept of surrogacy. Ultimately, she agrees for the sake of money, but unanticipated consequences follow. MiMi, the central character looks modern and sanguine, who is ambitious for her career but refuses to compromise. 

#MimiReview ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

WONDERFUL-EMOTIONAL- HILARIOUS. These 3 words describes the extraordinary journey of #Mimi. Brilliantly directed & written by #LaxamUtekar. @kritisanon delivers an award winning act,excels in both comedy & emotional scenes, @TripathiiPankaj is PHENOMENAL. pic.twitter.com/9E7niPqpif

— Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) July 26, 2021

But you can’t win the hearts of the Indian audience without melodrama. Laxman Utekar who has also co-written the film has not shied away from going virulent with emotions. And, this emotional roller-coaster was exaggerated to an extent that makes it a little irritating at one point. Somehow, the makers managed to provide an essence of laughter after every short interval of time. That laughter stroke was presented by Pankaj Tripathi. Whether you give a silent and violent character of “Sultan” from Gangs of Wasseypur or a royal ruler of Mirzapur as “Kaleen Bhaiya”, Pankaj Tripathi aces the character every single time. If we talk about the direction of the movie, Utekar has improved a lot from his previous Hindi directorial conjecture “Luka Chuppi”. Talking about the cinematography there was a lot of shots variation that created a next-level impact. That over-the-top shot when MiMi delivered the baby was showing mixed emotions. At that point, MiMi’s motherly instinct was also taking birth with the baby. Another one, when MiMi was running to meet the foreign couple, that hustle around the frame was evident. This hustle was shown because MiMi was completely disturbed by the fact that the foreigner couple is refusing to accept the baby. 

Now, comes the lead character MiMi (Kriti Sanon) who strives to make her name in the new world of women-centric cinema. This market is currently dominated more by Taapsee Pannu and Alia Bhatt. MiMi was by far Kriti Sanon’s best performance. From being a young ambitious girl with dreams in her eyes to become an actress, to be matured enough to handle a baby by leaving all her dreams behind. This is the portrayal of an authentic Indian Woman, who plays many different roles in her life. But is it enough? We see a cosmic scope of improvement as she doesn’t realize when her acting turns into overacting.

Every MiMi deserves a friend like Shama (Sai Tamhankar). Shama is innocent, selfless, and always stands for MiMi no matter what. And, that’s when the sub-genre of the film reflects. Shama talks about her husband who left her by giving “Teen-Talak”. After that Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak who plays MiMi’s parents, gave a satisfactory performance. Last but not least an actor who deserves applause is the child who plays Aatif, a student of MiMi’s father. His comic timing was hilarious and it will not be a surprise if we see him in more films further. 

Now, comes that music that is the soul of every movie. The original songs and background score for MiMi are composed by AR Rahman. Lyrics are done by Amitabh Bhattacharya. Also, the songs complement the storyline and go parallel with the plot. 

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