Mandi

My Rating : 6/10

'Mandi' is great for spotting all of the amazing side-actors and character actors as there's quite a few of them however the movie is rather average - it's meant to be a black comedy but there's not much of humour going on and neither is the storyline as exciting - aside from the great assembly of actors it's got a dull arc and frankly I was not entertained in the least.

An average film with great actors - good first-half - nothing however makes it more than a one-time watch.

What worked:

• ensemble cast; the movie has one of the finest actors of the industry in their early years of their best career. It's a pleasure to see all these actors portray their roles for a challenging and daring topic of the time. It's commendable direction by Shyam Benegal and the team to bring together a very important movie. It's engaging, entertaining and brutally honest movie.

What did not work:

• sound mixing and editing; one issue that was consistent with the movie is the sound quality. As a result, the voice and pitch of the characters especially the females in their directive voice sound painfully bad. It sounded like it was more of a shout than a dialogue delivery.
• cast; one of the biggest issue is the lead character Shabana Azmi's portrayal. No doubt she acted well but her role as per the story is of a at least middle age woman which doesn't fit her verbal and nonverbal attributes. If only the role was given to someone older, it would have been more convincing.

Final verdict: recommended

Review By Kamal K

Brilliantly directed, Mandi is an entertaining and incisive commentary on society. I can't remember where else a brothel has been treated with so much liveliness, humour and depth. It is a world in itself with colourful characters, each distinct from one another. Each of the characters are so memorable. Shabana Azmi shines as the loving, at times almost maternal and yet fiery and beautiful Madame, who runs the brothel effeciently. Her range from being seductive to maternal, from being crude and shrill to being poetic and seductive is simply marvellous. The rest of the cast Naseeruddin Shah, Neena Gupta, Smita Patil, Sony Razdan, Om Puri among others are praiseworthy.

Mandi is without a doubt one of the most entertaining movies of the great Shyam Benegal. Through this film, Benegal presents the world of young prostitutes and their madame, all of whom reside in an old brothel in Hyderabad. But unlike the glamorous portrayal of courtesans which are so common in Hindi movies, here we see an authentic and realistic depiction of the routine and effervescent neighbourhood and the brothel in particular. Benegal perfectly captures the atmosphere of the people residing in the village and his portrayal of their lifestyle is very impressive.

Mandi explores the hypocrisy of the society, but it's not as much a social movie as it is a satirical comedy. This is one of Benegal's most enjoyable movies in this regard. The film includes so many hilarious moments, keeping the audience entertained and yet never losing its seriousness. The humour comes in equal parts from the superb witty dialogues, the lifelike situations, the colourful characters, and the dark, ironic mood of the film, in which a serene but humorous narrative presents serious issues and flavours them with great sarcasm. That's what makes the film the more so amusing and funny.

One of the reasons Mandi works is the collaborative work of the ensemble cast, which includes some of the most talented actors in India, all of whom understand the film's darkly comic tone and act accordingly. Unquestionably, it is Shabana Azmi who leads the film as Rukmini, the domineering but caring madame of the house. At 33, Azmi plays a woman much ahead of her years, and she delivers an incredibly convincing and colourful portrayal, which is unrestrained and subtle at the same time. In preparation for the role, Azmi put on weight, and despite looking young, she definitely looks the part. Her unusually loud tone and crudely unrefined mannerisms are masterfully done, and it's both amazing and amusing to see her switching moods from angry to happy to suffering to motherly and loving. This is one of her most entertaining performances.

The rest of the cast is there to support Azmi, with Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah acquiring top honours. Patil is wonderful as the young and gentle Zeenat, who is also Rukmini's most beloved girl in the brothel, whom she has treated like her own daughter and for whom she cares the most. Shah delivers a greatly ambiguous performance as Rukmini's loyal employee, who indulges in funny and diverting emotional outbursts when she is not nearby. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is very good as the sophisticated businessman. Saeed Jaffrey is hilarious as Agarwal, who shares a common secret with Rukmini. Om Puri, Amrish Puri, and Pankaj Kapur lend adequate support in smaller parts, and so does the entire group of the brothel's girls, which includes such famous names as Ila Arun, Anita Kanwar, Ratna Pathak, Neena Gupta and Soni Razdan.

Mandi has music composed by Vanraj Bhatia, a regular in Benegal films. There are very few songs, but they are all nice. Mandi is a highly watchable movie. My favourite scenes are those taking place in Zeenat's room when several men come to visit her, much to Rukmini's displeasure. I loved the film's ending. Despite leaving several questions unanswered, it shows that there always is a ray of hope in everything. One of Shyam Benegal's most unusually crafted works, a great film with dark humour (which is so missing in Indian movies) and fantastic performances, which deserves many repeat viewings.

My main criticism is that Shabana Azmi, who's otherwise very, very good, is at least 15 years too young for the part of a middle aged madam. She looks barely older than Smita Patil, who's supposed to be her surrogate daughter.

In fact, for me, Shabana is easily the most alluring women in the movie - she could obviously do better by selling herself! Anyone agree?

A minor criticism is that Nasruddin Shah, who goes barefoot throughout, even on the roughest ground, is obviously accustomed to wearing shoes - I winced in sympathy with every step he took. BTW, can someone tell me if he's a Parsee. I think he looks like one.

I keep getting told that my comment doesn't run to ten lines. Does it now?