Mithya means a lie. Lies and everything else apart, it’s an absolute entertainer. Rajat Kapoor has tried a never-before- tried treatment in this film and outcome is as unexpected as its meaning. He manages to weave together both the elements of comedy and a crime thriller and come up with a movie which surprises us by its sheer boldness.
Mithya is filled with all the ingredients of a Bollywood hit movie – comedy, drama, action, romance, love, and finally, a good story of a guy who finds himself at the wrong place in the wrong time and how that changes his life.
VK (Ranveer Shorey) is a struggling actor, like thousands of film aspirants who reach Bollywood, comes to Mumbai with endless big film dreams. But fate has something in store for him, for it makes him a pawn in a master game plan of the underworld, and then he unknowingly gets drawn into a whirlpool of events that will determine his future.
One night VK witnesses a murder and reports it to the cops. He then finds himself a hunted man by the underworld. There is a conspiracy by a rival gang who wants to replace underworld kingpin Raje Bhaiya with VK, and gain access to his mafia empire. Why? Simply because VK is a look alike of the underworld don.
They keep him prisoner for a while, where he finds comfort in the hands of the ganngster’s moll (Neha Dhupia). But before he can get too comfortable, he is told that the reason he has been kidnapped is because Naseer wants to plant him in the rival gang and work for him. VK has little option but to agree. The plot takes many quirky twists and turns from here onwards as VK is drawn into a vortex of crime and deceit.
Then follows the sequence of events unveiling which are least anticipated and pleasantly surprising. Now VK is successfully replaced as Raje Bhaiya’s position in the gang. Everything now seems to go right, and then suddenly VK meets with an accident and loses memory. Post accident, he actually starts believing that he’s Raje and forgets his real individuality of VK. Now he is actually strangled between both the underworld gangs.
In the second half, Mithya deviates from a conspiracy plot to an emotional identity crisis with VK’s paternal instincts and romantic persona coming forth. The chemistry between Ranvir Shorey and leading ladies Neha Dhupia and Iravati Harshe are handled well. Then an unexpected accident turns the tables for everybody involved.
Director Rajat Kapoor is a brilliant a storyteller and has the advantage of having Naseeruddin Shah, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, some of best actors of contemporary Hindi cinema. Camerawork is also excellent, which gives the film a cold, gloomy look. Ranvir Shorey has attempted and is successful in giving an extra-ordinary performance as the ordinary struggler as also as the imposter. Naseeruddin Shah plays the role of ageing Don with an age-old ease and expertise. Surprise package is Neha Dhupia who definitely is one of the most under-rated actors in bollywood as she slips into a role with such effortless ease. Iravati is fantastic. Saurabh Shukla is first-rate. Vinay Pathak has a small but significant role. Other actors Brijendra Kala and Harsh Chhaya all are suitably cast in their roles.
The only predictable aspect about Mithya is its unpredictability. It has a lot of twists and it will be unfair to give away those here. Well, there is no star-value or item numbers but that essentially gives the movie a whiff of freshness. A film which has a fabulous script with believable characters, engrossing storyline and brilliant performances.
CAST of Mithya:
VK / Raje Bhaiya – Ranvir Shorey
Sonam – Neha Dhupia
Gawde – Naseeruddin Shah
Ram – Vinay Pathak
Shetty – Saurabh Shukla
Revati – Iravati Harshe
Mother – Suhasini Mulay
Shyam – Brijendra Kala
Mannu – Harsh Chhaya
Abbas – Ikhlaq Khan
Kuku Tola – Tinnu Anand
Sonam’s Aunt – Kamini Khanna
Tilak – Perin Malde
Keshav – Loknath Rathi
Chaudhary – Anil Chaudhary
Tipnis – Pankaj Tripathy
Jojo – Sanjeev Sharma
Majid Bhai – Anupam Shyam
Production Manager – Rajeev Saxena
Builder – Jehangir Karkaria
Sho – Ajay Trehan
Police Commissioner – Ramesh Rai
Chandan – Chandan Bisht
Madman – Vijay Gupta
Rachna Bisht, Sanam Kumar, Mustan Tambavala, Rohit Pathak, Dhruv Singh,
Pankaj Purandare, Suraj Mukherjee, Mahender Gule, Pankaj Sudhir Mishra, Suraj Mukherjee, Nikhil Rao, Promod Ghosh
CREDITS of Mithya:
Produced by – Arindam Chowdhuri
Directed by – Rajat Kapoor
Writers – Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Costume Design -: Isha Ahluwalia, Darshan Jalan
Visual Effects
Digital Compositors – Sudeepto Bose, Sarang Deshpande, Ilamuruguselvan, Ranen Nongmaithem, Pavan, Gaurvendra Singh
Assistant Editor – Archit D Rastogi
Digital Intermediate Sequence Colorist – Paul Byrne
Theme Music – Sagar Desai
Mithya, movie review
