Mithya Review

Here comes the release of a film that has been in the festival circuit for a while. Rajat Kapoor takes up the directorial reigns after films such as Raghu Romeo and Mixed Doubles. So, what's in store for us from a filmmaker who loves exploring the `niche' with `niche' subjects?

The film takes off with VK ( Ranvir Shorey ),  an aspiring actor who has come to Mumbai, like thousands of others.hoping to make it big. He dreams Shakespeare but his reality is more of cartoon fare. The world deems him to be a "loser", "unlucky" is more his take on the situation. And then, one day, fate smiles on him.well, almost.

He gets a break, it's the role of a lifetime and it's packed with action and drama! VK finds himself unknowingly drawn into a whirlpool of events and ends up as a pawn in an underworld plot. VK's face resembles that of Don Raje. The rival gang headed by Shetty (Saurabh Shukla ) and Gawde (Naseeruddin Shah) now exploit the situation by kidnapping VK. It's now time to groom Vk-which is done with the help of the Don's chic-Sonam (Neha Dhupia) who is a wannabe actress. Vk now replaces the Don.

Money, conspiracy, deceit, betrayal, lies...it's the stuff the Mumbai underworld is made of. And VK is about to reluctantly taste all of it.and perhaps a little more. Mithya is a story about destiny and its uniquely ironical ways.humour, drama, romance, suspense and much more.

Mithya indeed takes off as one the finest films that one would have seen this year but eventually post interval the film dips tremendously. The dip is an outcome of the complete change in genre attempted by Rajat Kapoor and his team which primarily involves Saurabh Shukla as co-writer. The film takes off smoothly as a film with great humour and great performances, it then slides into a much `Bhai-Bhai, Bhaigiri ` film. Director Rajat Kapoor in an attempt to try and be `niche' has indeed succeeded at being `niche' but maybe his flow of events in the film might just loose grip from the audiences.

No doubt the film is high on performances. Ranvir Shorey is just so natural both as Vk and the Bhai. He rips you apart with laughter in sequences where he cribs over his lunch menu offered by the goons. Another sequence to watch out for is the Tinu Anand -Ranvir interaction in the don's office. When you see all this you really wish that Rajat would have just left it as a comic film.

Naseerudin Shah is impressive as the rival Don. He expresses well with his frustration sequences and depicts anger with ease via his tone of voice. Saurabh Shukla makes you giggle even when he tries to be serious. Vinay Pathak is a little underused in the film but is really funny as the nutty goon. Neha Dhupia doesn't have much to do in the film but brings in that glamour element. She does much better than most of her other films. Harsh Chaya does well.

Well all in all the film would have been much better provided the writers (Rajat Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla ) didn't mix things up a bit too much. The complexities in the film don't entertain. The `Amnesia' element introduced in the film just confuses the plot even more, in fact the `Amnesia' factor isn't convincing at all. The ending too is a little bit silly.

Considering the fact that the film was made way back and has been a film festival material , do go ahead and watch it for such performances are rare. Do note that Sagar Bellary ( director of Bheja Fry) was an associate director on this project.

With already a film such as `superstar' carrying the double-role element with a mix of action, drama and songs releasing simultaneously; Rajat Kapoor's Mithya is definitely for the multiplex audience.

Rating : **