Les carrefours de la vie

Tone, Script & Story: There are more than one stories here running in parallel, mainly an old age man, an old age women and a tailor. The tailor's story includes a women, a costume contractor, a helper who helps him in lodging and a mafia that rents him home. All these stories mostly at some time clash with other.

One of the things that caught my attention was how old age woman that were full of life clashes with old man and refers to him as madrasi. There's one of my friends who refers to one of my other friends as Bajaj. Although we are not old. I hope they read this review.

The words that I am pinning down for this movie are not enough to highlight its superiority. If I pen it down it would be a spoiler. It is terrific drama. You have to watch it to know its beauty.

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: Tailors residence, dhaba, rehearsal house, bus, old people residences, bar, etc are all captured well.

Music: Music is average that resonates well along with the movie. Acting: Acting too is top notch, be it Neena, Jackie, Rakhi or others.

Final Verdict: It came to my attention that very few people have rated it on IMDb which meant only few have watched it. Watch it guys you won't be disappointed.

It's a tale of four individuals. Kamath (Jackie Shroff) and Prakash Kaur Handa (Neena Gupta), two lonely widower. Madhosh Gupta aka Nanhe (Abhishek Chauhan), a poor ladies tailor in debt and Rawas (Monika Pawar). Circumstances lead Nanhe to be jobless and in dire need of money to re-start his tailoring job. He resorts to robbing houses of lonely elderly and Kamath, Prakash Kaur are among his victims. How Kamath and Prakash Kaur get to know each other to re-want to live their lives and how difficult the lives of Nanhe and Rawas are, inspite of them wanting to live their lives the way they dream of, forms rest of the story.

Mumbai is not just a city of dreams but a city full of stories. That is what resonates with me personally, despite my brief visits to the city. The beauty of this film is it is the city that brings these four characters alive on screen. Be it their insecurities, their loneliness, their dishonesty, their struggle to even their greed, Mumbai is what shapes them as human beings. From the grumpy lonely widower wanting to die and his equally grumpy lonely widower who wants to live. Each of these characters are meant to be with each other, not just to complete each other but that is what life intends for them. The screenplay and ofcourse the performances held me till the end, including Rakhi Sawant as Bilkis.

Having said that, Vijay Maurya deserves full credit for his direction and even for co-writing this with Payal Arora. There is no deviation from these four characters as their life unfolds. Building these characters as they chose to open up with each other. One couple has seen life, lived it too whereas the other is now seeing life. The way they perceive life, even with their day to day activities, there is this warmth these moments create which lasted long after the film ended. Ofcourse I yearned for the happy endings, that is what one does when they root for the characters but taking this journey through their lives itself was worth it. For me, this easily ranks among the best films of 2023.

The director has taken themes that people do not want to not talk about and transformed these realities into something beautiful and bearable. Aging, loneliness, poverty, frustration, violence are all aspects of our lives that we knowingly ignore as they are too difficult to deal with in the Now of our zombie mode. The director put these into a vessel of hope, kindness and beauty so that the viewer can put down her guard and look into their own mirror without disgust or disdain. Loved each character, but my favorite were Jackie and Monica Panwar. Both are caterpillars in transformation. Great cinema. Watch it.

Many viewers can see their future in this movie, not only that but a way out to manage loneliness, and callousness of administration and society towards aging population. This movie throws pertinent questions on population, how do we ensure that our after retir d life is respectable, happy and safe? How can one life a life of purpose till end without too much dependence on kith and kin? Beautiful rendition and screenplay.

Acting, story and dialogue , everything caught the heart. It was not monotonous , run of the mill story but very very innovative and creatively made. Lot of takeaways too, not to give up on lif ena dlive the life life's way, no matter what , to just count a few takeaways.

Directed by Vijay Maurya, Mast Mein Rehne Ka is much more than what the trailers offer. Right from the first scene you can see stellar performance by Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta. However, I have to mention that the real stars of the movie are Abhishek Chauhan as Nanhe and Monica Panwar as Rawas/Rani. As their lives crisscross situations happen which drives the human struggle story forward. All the supporting chracters do a fine job. The city of Mumbai is also a character which we see through the lens of Nagaraj Ashokan Rathinam. From bylanes of Charni Road to Dongri his lens capture every detail that makes Mumbai Mumbai. Editing by Antara Lahiri is crisp. This two hour movie is a great watch for those who want to enjoy good cinema which you can reflect on long after the end credits roll. I recommend it.