#Sarasmovie – Gopal's views

I saw many reviews referring that Mimi is disappointing, rarely feels believable, wastes the talent of actors and many more. But, after watching Mimi, I would disagree with this degrading kind of reviews. Same happened to a Tamil webseries ‘November Story’ as well. Both aren’t flawless but not worthless. While November story is a slow burning crime thriller, Mimi is a predictable emotional drama.

Mimi revolves around the titular character Mimi who aspires to become an actress. Her life changes upside down when she takes an important decision for it. Film narrates about the consequences of the decision.

Though Mimi is remake, it never gives the feel of watching a remake.In the opening scene ,we are introduced to an American couple John and Summer, who are searching for healthy girl for surrogacy. Execution focuses more on humourous side and gives a light-hearted feel to the scenes. Scene where Mimi reveals an important decision to her parents is a great example of blending humour to a serious situation.

Writer and director Laxman Uthrekar succeeded to explore the possibilities of humour in the situation, create an emotional connect with the key characters and convey the intended message. Though Mimi is the central character, director considers to portay the perspective of Summer.

Kriti sanon managed to add authenticity to the struggle of Mimi. Look out for her performance in scenes with the American couple. Bhanu is just a cakewalk for Pankaj tripathi for the caliber that he possesses. The ease in his performance is a key reason that many humour scenes worked.

Dialogues too were notable. For instance: Bhanu says in a situation,”I’m driver. Whatever problem I faced, it’s my responsibility to drop my passengers to their destination”. It conveys the mindset of the character. Background score adapted aptly to the mood swings of the movie. Songs were placed well enough as suitable to the situation.

Mimi isn’t without drawbacks. The particular statement she says regarding aborting the child is contrary to that in Sara’s movie. Writer could have added a better justification for that.

Mimi is an engaging sentimental drama that portrayed the emotional conflicts of the main characters without being too verbal or melodrama.

Verdict: Worth a watch

Netflix watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81267360?preventIntent=true

“It’s better not to be parent than a bad parent”. Siddique in a scene during counselling reads his own quote. That quite tells us what the film intents to say.

In the opening scene, we see Sara with his boyfriend. After hearing her boyfriend saying about having kids, she walks away. After years ,Sara became an aspiring filmmaker and works as assistant in films. Jude shifts the narration to meta-film problems portrayed in the scenes including Siju Wilson and Balaji.

In parallel, we see Jeevan, a guy having problems with having kids, similar to Sara. Jude keeps his focus on to the questions of the society regarding parenting. Jude aptly maintains the balance between humour and emotions. For instance: the scene where Sara calls her father and Vincent asks is he asleep?. The scene where Sara meets the actress is the perfect example of the subtlety of Jude’s treatment.

Character development plays a pivotal element in making the situations relatable.Be Sara, stuck between developing her career and convincing her problems to others, Jeevan who changes his mind after job promotion or actress who gave up her career for family but never expressed it to others. All pivotal characters are well written and do communicate really well with the viewers.

Sara is different from the other characters of Anna Ben and she pulls it off with elegant ease. Sunny Wayne is a great choice made for Jeevan and he made his character feel authentic. Mallika sukumaran gets the role of Sara’s mother in law. Her performance in emotional scene was memorable.

Background score helped viewer to connect with the emotions of the character. Songs were soothing to hear. Special mention to the preduction design for the beautiful set up of the house.

Coming to the drawbacks, pace was uneven. It feel a bit slow at times .Srinda’s character could have avoided. Few may find the predictability as an issue. Sidhique’s scene could have been executed less verbally.

Drawbacks apart, Sara’s is a simple light hearted take on the exploration of the decision regarding parenthood and questions related to it. Worth a watch for the message and the performances.