Mr. & Mrs. Mahi movie review: Rajkummar Rao-Janhvi Kapoor’s romantic sports drama deserved a better pitch (writing)
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Arjit Taneja, Kumud Mishra, Zarina Wahab, Rajesh Sharma, Purnendu Bhattacharya
Director: Sharan Sharma
Writers: Nikhil Mehrotra, Sharan Sharma
When Mahendra (Rajkummar Rao) confronts his father about feeding a bunch of lies to his prospective bride and her family on their way back home, the latter equates him to goods and says, “Main hoon salesman, tum defective piece ho. Mujhe mere tareeke se bechne do.”
Despite being packaged as an ‘all-rounder’ entertainer, Mr. & Mrs. Mahi fails to hide its defects (poor writing) and leaves you with mixed feelings.
What’s Yay: The film has a handful of emotional moments which hit the right note
What’s Nay: Erratic writing, superficial treatment of few characters, bland execution
Story
Mr & Mrs Mahi begins with Mahendra (Rajkummar Rao) nicknamed Mahi, trying to show off his solid form in a cricket match to a group of selectors. Unfortunately, a ‘risk’ taken by him sends him to pavilion. When his coach (played by Rajesh Sharma) refuses to give him another chance, he sees his cricket career diminishing like a flickering tubelight.
To add more to his woes, his status-obsessed father (Kumud Mishra) commands him to give up on his ambitions and lend him a helping hand at his sports goods shop. Reluctantly, Mahendra obeys him, but this causes their already-strained relationship to deteriorate further.
Few years later, an arranged marriage with Mahima (Janhvi Kapoor), a doctor by profession, perks up Mahendra’s colorless world. The couple bond over their shared love for cricket and Mahendra slips out his bitter past. She encourages him to give his cricket career another shot. But, the latter quickly realizes that he has lost his sheen and even gets told that he was always an ‘average batsman’ by his former coach.
In the midst of all this, Mahendra stumbles upon Mahima’s prowess with the bat and decides to coach her to become a star cricketer. So, his wife quits her medical career midway and decides to pursue her dreams. The rest of the plot revolves around Mahendra’s struggle to be a supportive husband and how he grapples with his own inner demons in this journey.
Direction
Sharan Sharma’s Mr. & Mrs. Mahi starts off on a promising note where he along with his co-writer Nikhil Mehrotra hold our hands and take us into Mahendra’s world. You see the man’s passion and eagerness for a flourishing cricket career so that he can earn respect from his father who doesn’t miss a chance to rebuke him. When he wins over Mahi with his ‘honesty’, you find yourself grinning from ear to ear.
Slowly, as the narrative progresses, when the layers of his character starts peeling, you get to see a not-so-pleasant side of him and realize that his love comes with a condition. At times, you sympathize with him and at times, his actions and reactions bother you. In short, Mahendra takes you through a roller coaster of emotions.
In comparison to him, Janhvi Kapoor’s character Mahi gets a raw deal. While the initial buildup for her is intriguing, the writers barely offer her perspective in the narrative. As a result of this, rather than equal partnership, Mr. & Mrs Mahi comes across more like a solo show.
When you dig deep into the film, you realize that the core traits of both the characters are somewhat based on their parenting. If the reason for Mahendra’s quest for stardom is his sulking father, Mahi’s submissive nature also stems from her daddy issues. Unfortunately, the film treats these areas quite superficially, and hence, the redemption of both the fathers looks a bit unconvincing. Also, the cricketing portions lack heart-pounding visuals.
Performances
Rajkummar Rao has the perfect footwork when it comes to scenes of varying intensity. He holds your attention in scenes which depict Mahendra’s inner struggles and his rapaciousness for a shot at fame. Janhvi Kapoor manages to lend a certain degree of softness and resolute to her Mahi. Her chemistry with Rao is also easy-peasy.
Arjit Taneja pulls off a satisfactory performance even though his character lacks an arc. Kumud Mishra and Rajesh Sharma are earnest in their respective roles. On the other hand, a veteran like Zarina Wahab is just reduced to someone cooking and serving ‘gajar ka halwa’ in the household for more of her screen time. Barring the scene where her character has a heartfelt talk with Mahendra, she barely gets any scope to perform.
ALSO READ: Srikanth Movie Review: Rajkummar Rao-Jyotika’s Film Turns Out To Be An Eye-Opener
Technical Aspects
Anay Goswami, Yash Khanna and Manush Nandan’s camera work is satisfactory. Nitin Baid’s editing works well in this film which is more of a social drama than a sports flick.
Music
If you ask us our pick from Mr. & Mrs. Mahi soundtrack, it would be the reprised version of ‘Dekhha Tenu’ in Jaani and Mohammad Faiz’s voice, Jubin Nautiyal’s ‘Agar Ho Tum’ and ‘Tu Hain Toh’ sung by Neeti Mohan.
Verdict
Rajkummar Rao-Janhvi Kapoor’s Mr. & Mrs Mahi hits quite a few sixers. But in the end, it gets stumped out due to an uneven screenplay.
