A scene from ‘Mr and Mrs Mahi’
It’s a strange time for Rajkummar Rao and cricket fans alike in terms of cinema. His last release was the biographical drama SrikantIn the film, the actor played a blind man who gives up his cricketing prospects to pursue higher education abroad. “For me, education is more important than cricket,” he said. Rao, however, returns after three weeks, correcting his mistake. Mr. and Mrs. MahiIn which he plays a cricket-crazy maniac named Mahendra. “For me, cricket is life; life is cricket,” he says. Mahendra sticks to cricket even when cricket pushes him to the side.
Sharan Sharma’s film begins in Jaipur in 2017, with Mahendra participating in a local club tournament, vying for a place in the state team. His father (the angry, matter-of-fact Kumud Mishra), who owns a sports shop, warns him to either pursue his dream of representing India or join the family business. Mahendra comes close: manoeuvring smartly and exuberantly on the field but blowing it off in a jiffy. He is kicked out of the house forever, and, sometime later, he marries the sweet, trusting Mahima (Janhvi Kapoor). She is a doctor who falls for his innate ‘honesty’, Janhvi Kapoor’s other character who marries discreetly commotion (2023).
Sharma directed the first half hour Mr. and Mrs. Mahi with an unabashed sweetness. Rao and Kapoor commit to the comedy of a newlywed couple who find a common ground; apart from a shared surname – Mahi – they discover they have a shared passion: cricket. They start attending games wearing matching No. 7 jerseys (named after former Indian captain MS Dhoni, whose simple sporting philosophy ‘the process is more important than the result’ apparently inspired this film). The song ‘Agar Ho Tum’ starts playing, and Mahendra, for once, looks content in his sad, unfulfilled life.
Yet this lightness soon vanishes as the film takes a dramatic (and dark) turn. When Mahendra learns of his wife’s cricketing talent – she played gully cricket as a child but was forced by her father to study medicine – he encourages her to try again. He becomes domineering and cunning, convincing her that she is following her heart but secretly hoping to pass off her success as his own. He successfully coaches her into the state women’s team in record time, yet becomes rude and angry when his name is not mentioned on TV by Mahima.
Mahendra becomes the epitome of the sour, sad, irritable Indian male in this episode. His thirst for fame and wider recognition connects him to Ajay Dixit, an image-obsessed bastard played by Varun Dhawan. commotion. Mahendra’s sudden bad behaviour with his partner stems from his own feelings of inadequacy and failure. He could not fulfil his dream, so he projected it onto his wife. “Am I just a mere girl? Straight (stairs) for you?” Mahima demands from her husband in one of many explicit metaphors in the film.
Mr. and Mrs. Mahi (Hindi)
Director: Sharan Sharma
Mould: Rajkumar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Kumud Mishra, Zarina Wahab, Rajesh Sharma
Run-time: 139 minutes
StoryMahendra, a failure, trains his wife to become a great cricketer; yet, as her star rises, he becomes petty and resentful
Sharma and co-writer Nikhil Mehrotra show interest in unravelling the personality of Mahendra, a jealous wimp struggling in the role of coach and cheerleader. The problem is that after showing its protagonist as petty and self-absorbed, the film takes him down a flat learning curve. Mahendra’s self-examination progresses through a sad song and his mother’s improvisational speech. The film could have made its point better by focusing on Mahima’s personal growth, keeping her sulking husband on the bench for a while. Instead, the emotional scales are tilted towards the weeping, repentant Mahendra.
It’s hard to focus on this. Mr. and Mrs. Mahi Without constantly reminding me of other films. There is no idea, scene or soundtrack that feels particularly new. Starting with “Dekha Tenu” sometimes happy sometimes sad Recycled – Is it a Dharma production if it doesn’t occasionally rest on its laurels? Mahendra has an elder brother who is very successful and his father loves him very much, a saying at least as old as time The one who wins is the emperor (The brother’s name is actually Sikandar) Rajkummar Rao used to run a sports shop in a small town – albeit with obvious enthusiasm – Kai Po Che! (2013). Oh, and did I mention it? commotion,
Cricket activities Mr. and Mrs. Mahi is almost as forgettable as the battle scenes gunjan saxena (2020). Kapoor, a nine-film veteran, struggles to act with the requisite ease, both on and off the pitch. Rao effectively projects the frustration and irritability of a fool like Mahendra. He is adept at character psychology; however, as a romantic lead, he works less magic. He moves forward without a care, into the stands, trying to inject some credibility and heart into this dull story. He is playing a one-man innings, and he knows it.
Mr and Mrs Mahi is in cinemas now
