Mili

Survival thrillers are a rarity in any film industry, let alone Bollywood, but there have been quite a few initiatives in the past few years, and I must say, regardless of their successes or failures, I'm glad that they at least attempted to venture into this relatively uncharted territory.

Coming back to 'Mili,' it's an official remake of 2019's Malayalam film 'Helen', which starred Anna Ben (which I haven't seen yet, so I have no way of comparing the two). This appears to be a reasonably competent thriller if I evaluate it strictly on its own merits.

In addition to delivering the expected ingredients of suspense and despair, it also captured the essence of a father-daughter relationship that blossomed into something wholehearted. In addition, everyone's performances were also very commendable. Particularly Janhvi Kapoor.

She may need a dozen opportunities for improvisation, but one cannot deny her willingness to take on unconventional roles that will force her to grow as an actress. She still has a long way to go, but one thing is for certain, she is indeed on the right course.

Another survival thriller, and not a very good one at that. First, the movie drags on for far too long, and it takes a lot of time until the film's main plot element comes to the fore. The big problem, however, is that much of what happens once the girl is stuck in the freezer lacks credibility and is amazingly cliché and predictable. There's no logic in freezers having no safety devices or inside door handles, especially inside malls. Even what happens out of it is poorly handled. How come no one thought to check the control room which would immediately whether she's left the restaurant. Everything Mili does in terms of decision making feels slow and not suitable for such a high-strung situation. That she doesn't keep herself in constant movement (for most of it she just sits rested) nor try to check the walls in due time and find an existing tunnel does not make any sense either. Above all, that she spends so much time inside it and is still in her senses, and she is, doesn't ring true for a minute. One can think of so many things she could have done to break the fans other than try to strike it with a stick or throw packages of frozen meat at them (like the ladder, for one).

Mili is watchable nonetheless, but another fault is the editing - the movement back and forth between the freezer and the girl's family looking for her is most exhausting. The film could have been shortened in a way that would have made the entire project much more effective and worth a watch. I think the sub-genre of survival films has become (like any other successful sub-genre) repetitive and this film just follows the same tropes without offering anything original. More than anything, Jahnvi Kapoor, who is pretty, is quite okay but honestly just isn't good enough this time. Not going to do what everyone else already does and compare her to her mother (and I've done this before so why do it again), and not going to say she isn't a good actress because she did well in other films, but here the lack of experience shows and she struggles a lot with the proceedings. Since in many ways this is a one-woman show, it required an actress so charismatic and expressive that many of its flaws would have been forgiven. Overall, Mili is, again, a watchable film which is overlong, predictable and not good enough. Many things could have been done to improve it.

This was definitely not your typical Bollywood movie. I expected song and dance, and I got something completely different. I was pleasantly surprised by the originality. There were plot holes all over the place, and characters acted nonsensically and unrealistically at times. However, the storyline itself is not bad. The lead actress does a credible job although the writers have her doing some pretty dumb things at times. Nevertheless, I was happy that the movie did not follow the old, worn out Indian movie formula and struck new ground with creativity. The first half was better than the second, but overall this was a solid watch.

A slow burner starring Jhanvi Kapoor & Sunny Kaushal mainly, which gets to the point after 40-45 minutes.

+ves : Jhanvi's acting performance which makes it a good movie to watch. Symbolism used in the film by the director especially through that mouse was something unique which looks great according to the context of the movie.

-ves : Extremely poor screenplay which makes you feel bored while waiting for the main series of events. It takes about 45-50 minutes to reach to its main plot, in a 2hrs movie, its really poor. Some over the top & illogical acts or events were also there in the movie. Considering modern age cinema, Director should definitely look into these categories.

However, if you have nothing to watch, you could go for this one. If you have that kind of patience to offer than you could give it a try.

BIG SHOUTOUT TO JHANVI KAPOOR!!!

I haven't seen the original but from reports it seems its a frame to frame remake of Helen .

Mili is about a girl named Mili who gets trapped in large refrigerator and battles her life out to survive as her loved ones search for her.

It's like you are searching for your spectacles all around your house without realising it's in your pocket (or prolly you are wearing it only lol).

Before going to other points , i have to admit this is Jahnvi's best performance till date. It's very hard to do a role like this and the director has brought the best out of her . Not only does she excels in her scenes with her father, but also her pain is captured brilliantly in the fridge. Very few are watching this in theatres but once it comes on ott, people will realise how good Jahnvi was in this film and is probably one of the few nepo actresses trying out some really challenging roles from helicopter pilot to this. What you can't deny is so far she has done films where women have meaty character rather than just be a showpiece like how other young actresses are made to do.

The father daughter scenes are terrific. Jahnvi scolding her father for smoking ciggerate like as if she is his mother is really nice to watch. Manoj Pahwa is a gem of an actor . He excels in emotional scenes.

Sunny Kaushal has a decent role here but is basically a side character nothing else.

That cruel inspector, the actor who played the role was terrific! His job was to instill hatred in us and did it with ease and conviction. The casting i have to admit has been spot on.

The only one place i found it to be rather weird and illogical is the final part where Manoj gets hold of her unconscious daughter in the fridge and dude ! Instead of rushing her to the hospital, he just sits there in the cold fridge crying over her body and trying to wake her up!! Dude she's alive or dead, just take her to the hospital asap. I think only after a good 3 mins he realised this and that's weird melodrama.

Songs were really good thanks to AR sir.

Just because it's a remake you can't bash it. I know Bollywood is making too many remakes but then keeping that aside , just analyse the product. This review of mine is a remake only review as i havent seen the original and all i can say, it's a satisfying product. Also, it would be unfair to compare this to Trapped, the latter was survival only film and of much higher quality.