Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities

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...

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.

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!

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 an art film revolving around the classic case of writer's block! Sometimes it becomes difficult to interpret a beautiful/masterpiece paintings in appropriate words, Meenaxi is a like a painting on a canvas so gaudy, magnificent, vivid, imaginative, very open yet very difficult to interpret in first instance! The thin line between reality and imagination is crossed several times but with such a pace that is impossible to catch. The characters are well built for each scenario, the story is well woven for each three niches. At times it seems as if you are reading a book and the characters are walking and wandering around here and there on the pages searching for the length of their survival. The imagination is much stronger than the reality but it's the reality that supersedes all the three fantasies and overlaps them. Three characters played by Tabbu are done with full justice. She looks very gorgeous, strong, very beautiful and confident.

It is interesting to see that how a Hyderabadi Meenaxi dictates the writer to develop characters for her based on her personality and when compare those characters with her own personality,she refuses to be the woman of the novel and comes out of the scenario, the whole novel writing process. She continues to be an enigma from start till end. No one else could do justice to the characters played by Tabbu. She is absolutely one of the most talented actresses of movie industry. When she is quiet, her eyes speak volume. Nawab, another powerful character played by Raghubir Yadav gives a remarkable performance. He is very confident and comfortable while playing the role of a novel writer. His expressions are accurate with a full control on his body language. Kunal Kapoor is stylish and confident. Working with two great actors on set (Tabbu and Raghubir) with full confidence and required expressions would not have been a piece of cake for him, but he managed it too precisely. Nadra Babber is adorable and convincing and portrays the great potentials of her character with grace. Music by A.R.Rehman is classy, melodious, apt according to the mood of the film. After DilSe, it's his second best work. "Noor-ul-aala", "Yeh Rishta", "Titli", "Do Kadam", "Rang Hai" are of top notch. Asha Bhonsle is very expressive in "Badan Dhuwan". Cinematography is breathtaking. The deserts of Jaisalmir and the scenes pictured in Prague are of top notch. Camera work is superb, although there are some minor technical mistakes but those could be ignored easily. M.F.Hussain was a real gem as a painter as well as a film producer. It's a must must watch for art loving people!!! My ratings 10/10...!