Mirch Movie Review: Mirch: Medium Spicy

Vinay Shukla, the man who made 'Godmother' so many years ago, now comes up with a film which again has women playing a central role. Of course, the women of 'Mirch' are not as strong as 'Godmother' but they are definitely tangy. The experiment to narrate four stories about female sexuality is a great idea and Shukla is quite successful in his attempt, but the stories do not exactly live up to the title of 'Mirch'. They are not as spicy as one would have expected, but the wit and presence of mind of the women involved is amazing and quite admirable.

It helps that the stories have been very well written and very well executed on screen by some really talented actors. One would not be mistaken in calling the movie a sex comedy as the director manages to keep it light and not get into the darker overtones of adultery. The love making scenes are suggestive yes, but not obscene. While Shukla is not trying to talk about feminist issues, the film at least takes it for granted that women too have a sexual libido.

The film's structure is interesting as there are four different stories narrated within the format of one story. The large story is that of Manav, (Arunoday Singh) a struggling and idealistic writer director who is looking for a break. His successful film editor girl Ruchi (Shahana Goswami) manages to get him an appointment with a top ranking producer, Nitin, (Sushant Singh). Nitin likes Manav's script but feels that it is too dark and so he would not like to produce it. He is looking for something more saleable. That's when the idea of having short stories with sex as part of their content strikes Manav.

He narrates the first story which is taken from the Panchtantra and is set in medieval times; the second is from the Italian masterpiece, the Decameron, written by Boccaccio; the third is believed to also be of Italian origin, while the fourth has been written by Shukla himself. Of all these four stories, the one which strikes the most poignant note is the third one, which stars Arunoday, Raima Sen and Shreyas Talpade. Of course, this one too has a twist in the tale which comes with its sting. The weakest in the link seems to be the last one which is only redeemed by Boman Irani's presence.

Incidentally, the stories are divided into two in each half of the movie. Also, very interestingly, each of the four stories is set in a different season. In this context, one feels that the first three stories are quite excellent. The last one, or the one which holds all the four stories together, which is the story of Manav his girlfriend and Nitin and his wife, is somehow not quite up to the mark. It is a little too sketchy and seems rather incongruous in contrast with the sunny nature of the other four stories. The bit with Sushant and Tisca Chopra doesn't fit in with the mood of the rest of the movie. That seems to be one of the main reasons why the film doesn't seem to have adequate quantities of 'mirch'.

The first story has Raima playing a young woman who is caught redhanded by her husband played by Rajpal Yadav, and yet manages to hoodwink him and make out with her lover, played by Arunoday, while the second has a princess, played by Konkona Sen Sharma hoodwinking her old husband, played by Prem Chopra, and making out with her lover, Arunoday, again, right in front of his eyes; the third is set in contemporary times and stars Raima and Shreyas as husband and wife with Arunoday playing the lover. Again, a wife caught redhanded by her husband is able to wriggle out all because of her presence of mind and wit. The last one stars Konkona and Boman as the married couple and Boman carries the show in this one.

One will grant Shukla his vision of women as equals in all respects to men, but his 'Mirch' is not as interesting as one would have expected it to be. After the initial surprise, the rest of the stories are quite predictable, in a manner of speaking. The 'mirch masala' is missing as they are the twists in the tale are not sharp enough.

The film has been very well shot and its music by Monty Sharma is quite appropriate. However, it is the actors who really lift the movie with their tangy performances. Arunoday is quite a natural and he is extremely likeable and quite talented. Shahana is quite good in her bit role and so is Sushant. Tisca is good in the emotional outburst but one finds that entire episode quite a misfit in the entire scheme of things and that takes away from the impact of the sequence. Raima and Konkona have two stories each and both actresses have done a wonderful job. Rajpal is pretty good and so is Prem Chopra. But the honours belong to Ila Arun and Boman Irani, both of who turn in ace performances. Talpade is just about passable.

Finally, 'Mirch' manages to pack a lot inside and say it with a lot of humour and wit, but it is not sharp enough to hold its audiences or prove to be a completely satisfying cinematic experience, despite having so much going for it.