Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities

M.F.Husain, who has written and directed this movie, is a well renowned artist from India. Meenaxi is just as colorful and bright as his paintings.

The title of the movie is a bit misleading. Even though the story travels through three cities, the movie itself is not about the three cities. It is about a creator and his relationship with his characters, especially the pivotal muse.

Raghubir Yadav is a perfect fit for the character of the famous author, Nawab, who often gets so lost in his stories that he forgets about himself and everyone around him. Tabu, as his inspiration and the central character in his story (Meenaxi), is more than competent in her role. Kunal Kapoor, the new comer displays tremendous maturity.

In all, the movie underscores the point that for a committed author (or any creative artist, for that matter), the line that divides reality and the fantasy world of his creation is almost imperceptible. The movie ends with a question - "Is life nothing more than a thought? Or is it a search for that thought?"

The direction and narration are brilliant, if a bit self-indulgent. One got the feeling that the whole movie might have been more gripping if the length was shorter. But then, Husain was probably constrained by the requirements of an Indian audience.

The songs, by A.R.Rahman, are sheer genius and so is the background score. The cinematography explodes with color and movement and combined with the well-blended music, elevates the movie's experience to a higher plane.

A must see movie, even if you have never seen Indian movies before. This is about as good as movies get.

Meenaxi is one of those rare movies. It blurs the boundaries of real and imaginary so beautifully that you are left awestruck at the end. It makes you wonder what is real and what is fictitious? Is it a dream or is it real? It weaves between the two so magnificently you are left wondering if any two people will ever come to the same interpretation of the movie. In a bollywood world where the audience is beaten to death by watching the same boy-meets-girl story recycled countless times, coupled with cheesy dialogues, artificially good/bad characters, leaving absolutely no room for imagination or interpretation, Meenaxi comes as a breath of fresh air. I was shocked to see the rating to be as low as 6. There is nothing that is below par about the movie. The visuals are stunning, with the colors playing a riot at times, and being understated & mysterious on other occasions. The story is mesmerizing. The songs are brilliant. The acting of both Tabu and Raghubir Yadav is excellent as usual. Kunal Kapoor did leave a bit to be desired though, at least for me. Probably it is too abstract for a section of the audience. But anybody who is pessimistic about the quality of Hindi cinema should see Meenaxi. Even though I am not a great fan of M.F.Hussain, but the quality of his artwork in the movie is undeniable. To think it was only his second movie makes you wonder at the overall talent levels of these artists. Go watch the movie with an open mind, and you will see something new too.

I thought Meenaxi was a self indulgent waste of time. The movie was poorly edited and artistic for the sake of being artistic rather being incorporated into the plot. Apart from the main protagonist, the quality of acting was mediocre and dialog was pithy. One of the two bright sparks was the choreography of the musical pieces, which were acrobatic and classical. Most importantly, they were a refreshing change from the usual bollywood crass belly gyrations. The other, positive (which is no reflection on the film makers) are the locations. It is hard to miss the beauty of cities like Jaisalmer and Prague. Overall, for some visual appeal and a cloudy plot-line, Meenaxi is watchable. But I would recommend getting on with household chores instead!

It is sad that such a brilliant film went unnoticed by many people. Meenaxi is one of the best Indian movies. Though the screenplay seems confusing, it is in the class of movies like 'A beautiful mind' and 'Memento'. A depiction of the confusion between reality and mental projection is very difficult and M.F. Hussain has done it in a superb manner. It takes more than a man of average psyche to understand this film.

Other than the story and the direction, the music by AR Rahman is absolutely brilliant and the visualizations are really great. Overall, a must-watch for the mavericks out there.

Meenaxi - is the story of a famous novelist Nawab (Raghubir Yadav) who has lost inspiration and is unable to write. He sees/imagines a beautiful perfume seller Meenaxi (Tabu) and tries to write a story around her character. The love interest is portrayed by Kunal Kapoor, a wannabe musician who repairs cars for a living. The story is presented in fragments with the reality (?) of the imagined Meenaxi in whites, grays, blacks and a distinct Deccani Urdu accent mixed in with the fictional Meenaxi in full blown vibrant Rajasthani colors and a suave sophisticate royal accent, and the fictional Maria as a Western girl living in a nunnery in Prague.

A word of caution to the reader - I am a fan of Renaissance art, of the well executed and exquisitely painted scenery or portraits and do not much enjoy abstract art. Meenaxi is absolute abstract art. I can see what MF Hussain tried to accomplish and think he achieved his aim extremely well but the story (well there isn't much of one) fails to engage me or touch me as it is too abstract. Having said that, I do see the visual artistry in this film and the excellent performances. Santosh Sivan is a master cinematographer and this could be his crowning achievement. The movie is like walking through a gallery of beautiful paintings, you want to stop and admire every frame. I will touch on this more when I talk of the songs.

The acting is by and large very good. Tabu is excellent as the Hyderabadi and Rajasthani Meenaxi but fails to engage me as much as the Maria from Prague.. And she is amazingly beautiful and mesmerizing throughout the film. Kunal Kapoor is fair to good - a decent debut. Raghubir Yadav is brilliant - he gets under the skin of Nawab and is the most engaging character in the movie for me.

The direction is good - Hussain the artist obviously is the force driving Hussain the director. But I cannot help feeling that I might have enjoyed the film more if it was less abstract.

The music is quite good - there are many songs and I loved almost all of them.

Noor-un-Ala-noor is brilliantly choreographed and has some Middle Eastern overtones. Rang Hai is drenched in color and visually stunning. The song/dance in the potter's village seems very Satrangi Re (Dil Se) inspired to me. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is a pleasing number set in the desert with monochrome spots of color and Tabu looks divine. Chinnamma Chilakkamma - what on earth was that? I couldn't figure out why the song and episode was in the film at all. My favorite song is Badan Dhuan Dhuan - it is in the backdrop of a play in Prague, but but why is Maria singing in Hindi? I do not know who choreographed which song but they were all brilliantly choreographed.

In the end I give the film an 8/10 for the visually stunning spectacle and acting but I wish that it had been less abstract and had engaged me more as a story. Now I want to watch Gaja Gamini by Hussain and see why he makes these women inspired films...