Film review : Mr & Mrs Mahi - how good is the film ?

 

Mr. & Mrs. Mahi is the story of a cricket-crazy couple. The year is 2017. Mahendra Agarwal (Rajkumar Rao), a resident of Jaipur, fails to get selected in the state team after his last shot goes wrong. He has no choice but to start working in his father's (Kumud Mishra) sports shop. 5 years later, Mahendra meets Dr. Mahima (Janhvi Kapoor) for an arranged marriage. Mahendra's father lies that Mahendra has helped him grow his business a lot. Mahendra confesses to Mahima that this is not true at all. Mahima is impressed by Mahendra's honesty and she agrees to marry him. On the first night, Mahendra is pleasantly surprised to know that Mahima is crazy about cricket. This makes them both even more attracted to each other.  Mahendra falls madly in love with Mahima and while doing so, he becomes careless in running the sports shop, which results in losses.  This is when Benny advises him to become a coach. One day, he sees Mahima playing cricket. He asks her to leave medical practice, where she is not happy anyway, and train under him. To know what happens next, watch the full movie.

Mr. and Mrs. Mahi Review:-

Nikhil Mehrotra and Sharan Sharma's story is solid. We have seen films about unsuccessful individuals guiding ambitious players to success. But here, the coach is the husband and that adds a twist. Nikhil Mehrotra and Sharan Sharma's screenplay is smooth. The first half is full of emotions and humour. But the writing is weak at some places. Nikhil Mehrotra and Sharan Sharma's dialogues are well written in most parts of the film.

Sharan Sharma's direction is effective. He has done a good job with the high points and there are many of them - like Mahendra gifts a tie to Mahima's father, Mahendra and Mahima realise their love for cricket in each other, Mahendra thanks Mahima for the happiness, etc. The intermission is worth a clap.

After the intermission, the film takes a new turn with Mahima's cricket career starting.  However, from here on, the film becomes predictable as one can guess what will happen next. The game is also overdone. As a result, the audience will not be able to applaud at the end. The track of the husband being jealous of his wife is a strong reminder of Abhimaan [1973]. Also, the unconvincing dialogues throughout the film do not make two important scenes in the climax stick. Also, the mother's character is important but is given very little importance. She is absent in the last part of the film, though she makes an incredible contribution to the narrative.

In Mr. and Mrs. Mahi

Cast Performances:-

Rajkumar Rao looks natural. There is no let-up in his acting and in the second half, he has done a great job. Janhvi Kapoor has once again proved her mettle. It was a physically challenging film and she has done a great job. Kumud Mishra is reliable. Rajesh Sharma is cute as expected. Zarina Wahab is very good, but sadly gets less screen time. Her character becomes very important in the pre-climax, but in the first half and the finale, she is not given what she deserves. Purnendu Bhattacharya (Mahima's father) and Yamini Das (Mahima's mother) are good. Arijit Taneja (Sikander) is okay.

Music and other technical aspects of Mr. and Mrs. Mahi:-

'Dekha Tenu' is catchy, but the music is not of the chartbuster variety.  'Agar Ho Tum' and 'Junoon Hain' are well woven into the story. 'Roya Jab Tu' and 'Tu Hai To' are nothing special.

John Stewart Eduri's background score is encouraging. Anay Om Goswami's cinematography is apt. Sharanya Menon's production design is realistic. Anaita Shroff Adajania and Varsha-Shilpa's costumes are true to life. Nitin Baid's editing is satisfactory, but could have been better in some places.

Why watch Mr. and Mrs. Mahi:-

Overall, Mr. and Mrs. Mahi is a good film, with performances, storyline and clap-worthy interval point being its USPs. However, the second half is predictable and it comes at a time when audiences are tired of sports films. Still, it is off to a good start due to the cinema lover's day out offering. Positive word of mouth will help the film grow at the box office.