As a movie, Mimi is a typical Ayushman Khurrana kind of film. Take a little discussed topic and wrap it up in a lot of comedy with liberal sprinklings of sermonising. At the end of the movie, you are left moaning all the lost opportunities to both educate the viewers and actually address the issue at hand.
Take for example the scene right at the beginning where Summer (Evelyn Edwards) explains surrogacy to Bhanu (Pankaj Tripathi). Instead of letting us hear the conversation, her words are drowned out by the background music and then we hear only the end of the conversation. Another missed opportunity is when they are at the IVF clinic.
The movie also misses the opportunity to make any real arguments for or against Mimi keeping the child. The real problems in the movie come in the last 30 minutes, which leaves very little time to really grapple with even one of them in any real depth. Instead we are treated to a mishmash of inane proclamations on color, religion, family honor, and what not.
Why was this not a movie that played out primarily in the courtroom? Maybe because the inside of a courtroom is not as beautiful as Jaipur.
Finally, the movie follows the Sanjay Leela Bhansali template, where the subject is gritty but everything on screen is pretty. You have to rely on your understanding of Indian society to fill in the blanks when it comes to the protagonists’ real troubles. Personally, I don’t like this approach. I would rather show the inhumane way in which we treat people and contrast them with the people who actually do the right thing. But then, I guess, you need real actors to pull that off.
That said, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Kriti Sanon’s performance. She is ably supported by a really powerful cost led by Pankaj Tripathi.
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