MIRZYA REVIEW AND BO - Page 2

Movie is a visual treat
Leads getting a praise
But story is not that Gd I think
If reviews r genuine then leads il go long way

Mirzya movie review: Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher's performances and beautiful frames stand out in this bland love story
Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher's Mirzya is a visual masterpiece, but one only hoped it had a narrative that promised an equally brilliant premise.

There have been legendary love stories of Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha, Romeo and Juliet brought to life on screen by filmmakers all across the world. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra tries his hand at telling the mystical love story of Mirza- Sahiban through the eyes of contemporary lovers. Mirzya doesn't have the nuts and bolts of a typical Bollywood film. It has the song and dance routine, but it's done differently, there is very little chest thumping and dialoguebaazi and no item song or gimmick to make the film appeal to a broader audience. The promos have been indicative of the texture and fabric of Mirzya. The songs and our interactions with the debutant actors Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher sounded really intriguing with the way they spoke about their magnum opus. But is Mirzya worth the hype ?
Mehra starts the film with a robust visual of men riding horses with their faces covered in black scarves. Our hero Mirzya (Harshavardhan) gets one of the most stylised introductory scenes in recent times. Saiyami Kher, standing under a tree surrounded by men guarding her, throws a glance at our hero as the sky lights up with fireballs and piercing arrows. Just when this vivid image lingers in your mind, Mehra cuts his frame to the modern day setting of Jodhpur where a young Suchitra and Monish begin their love story. Harshavardhan and Saiyami have two different looks throughout the film, defining the distinct worlds they belong to. Do they serve any purpose? Does the love story manage to hold our interest? And does the music, which has a very large part to play in this movie, make the experience melodious or jarring ? Let's find out ...

hat's hot
Mehra has gone for the kill as far as visuals are concerned. He doesn't hold back in a single frame and lights the whole screen up with imagery and shades that are bold and extremely eye catchy. The way the camera just hovers over the sand dunes or the VFX laden Mirzya world are both equally fantastic. Mirzya could make for an excellent comic book if it wanted to use these story board graphics to tell the story in a different format. Leepakshi and Niharika who are responsible for creating these two distinct looks do a fantastic job in giving these characters the Colors and fabrics they require. Background score adds up to the drama at the right moments. Coming to the most important question - how good are the debutants? Honestly, they both deserved a better film to showcase their talents, but given the constraints of the technique and format, they do their best. Harshvardhan manages to stir your interest in his interpretation of Mirzya. It's not so much the facial hair or the props but the yearning in his eyes to deliver and that hunger to give everything in every scene. He needs to work a lot on his screen presence and diction, perhaps a bit of body language as well, but despite the hiccups, his take on bringing his director's vision alive is honest and sincere. Saiyami has unconventional looks and they work in her favour. Her scenes with Harshvardhan in the second half stand out. The fact that these two are newcomers gives their pairing an edge.
What's not

Mehra's biggest flaw in the film is his technique and narrative. The concept of two worlds, two parallel timelines, two different characters just doesn't work. There are moments when you are drawn into the fantasy Mirzya world and want to stay there a bit longer, but a song or a background score comes out of nowhere taking you back into the real world. Neither here nor there, the film ends up being a case of too much flavour can sometimes spoil a good dish. Also Mehra doesn't give Harshavardhan or Saiyami any big scene or moment to play up. Instead there are fleeting moments that have some spark. I can't think of one big stand out scene in such a long film. The songs are great, but were they required at such regular intervals? The awkwardness between switching from one world to another finally gets to you and there is very little damage control that a director can do in his last 20 minutes. Mirzya despite being a hardcore love story doesn't draw touch any emotional chord, because the emphasis is so much on the format and technical aspects that the writing takes a major backseat.
What to do

Mirzya is a visual masterpiece, but one only hoped that it had a narrative that promised an equally brilliant premise. Watch it to usher in two newcomers Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher who fortunately have follow up films that hopefully do more justice to their skills.

"Mirzya" is a very simple yet extremely layered love legend. The lovers here face what lovers everywhere have faced since love was discovered in the human heart. As in "Rang De Basanti", Mehra creates two levels of storytelling, one that is situated in the present times with the lovers going through the love tropes with a kind of gentle persuasiveness that makes destiny seem charmingly welcome, and the other love story that unfolds in a snowswept landscape of the past with a fatal fury.
The provocative uniqueness of Mehra's "Mirzya" flows out of its narrative format. Stylish and yet improvisationa, "lMirzya" imbues the love legend with a casual grace and a disarming ardour. A large portion of the film's inescapable charm is traceable to the lead pair who are no gym-produced mannequins. Flesh and blood, they bleed and bawl, plead and brawl, with their tempestuous love for one another being the epicenter of their conflict.
And Gulzar gives them such lovely lines to speak. Harshvardhan and Saiyami own those lines with proprietary pride. The exemplary sound design (Pranav Shukla) is so textured and tonally correct we can hear every crack in the lovers' hearts.
This brings me to the film's exceptional technical qualities. "Mirzya" is arguably the most technically accomplished piece of cinema in a very long time. Spaces in the heart are virtually manifested onscreen in the characters' clothes, demeanour, performance and posture.
The visual landscape reifies the emotional content of the plot without hammering in the link between what we see and what the characters feel. The romance in the past fuelled by a nomadic mating dances(Raju Sunderam's choreography is divinely erotic) and rituals from folk art which coalesce in a comfortable union of a fugitive heritage and contemporary conventions.
All of this is achieved with a subtlety and tenderness which are not all accessible or obtainable in the first viewing. "Mirzya" tells a deceptively simple tale of star-crossed love with a flummoxing flourish. Why the two love stories fused in concurrent movements which allow no room for demarcation lines? This question gets its answer in the empowering befitting finale where, shall we say, guns and arrows meet without a violent conflict of interest between the two weaponry.
For me, what made "Mirzya" unstoppably unique was its even temper. Even during the moments of heightened emotional conflict and outburst Mehra is in full and supreme command of his character's words and action. The music by Shankar Ehsan Loy is the life and breath of the lovers' journey from a childhood togetherness to doomed adulthood.Every musical piece in the narrative tells a story.
The stable-boy Adil that Harshvardhan plays could be Heathcliff from any era(considering Mehra's penchant for era-less drama). The debutant plays the tormented lover-boy using his eyes that speak a million words of recrimination. Harshvardhan's forte is pain and hurt. He expresses these with an honesty reminiscent of Dilip Kumar in Dil Diya Dard Liya.
Saiyami Kher as Suchitra is no comestic beauty. She is real and unstoppably vivacious, a Kajol of the new generation. Anuj Choudhary as Suchitra's royal fianc is adept at expressing an arrogant hurt. But the scene stealer is Anjoli Patil as Zeenat the ironsmith's sensuous daughter who has the eternal hots for Adil. Anjoli chews the meat off every scene that she has including a very crucial wedding -chamber scene where she breaks your heart.
It is the older actors who let us down. Or is it the script that doesn't allow them room to show their worth?
There are some terribly bright child actors in the film lending a sense of artless innocence to the luminous goings-on. Every frame of "Mirzya" speaks a language that echoes Luis Bunuel. A lot of the credit for the captivating cadences of the storytelling must go to Shankar Mahadevan's astonishing music and Pawell Dyluss's soul-searching cinematography which makes every shot a do-or-die endeavour without sacrificing the spontaneity and fluidity in the narration.
Then there is P S Bharati's editing. She fuses the two eras where the two love stories unfold with an effortlessness that makes the director's existential philosophy-that life moves from one conflict to another without the luxury of full stops-seem like the only way love can be expressed.

The debutant plays the tormented lover-boy using his eyes that speak a million words of recrimination. Harshvardhan's forte is pain and hurt.

He expresses these with an honesty reminiscent of Dilip Kumar in Dil Diya Dard Liya.


Saiyami Kher as Suchitra is no comestic beauty.
She is real and unstoppably vivacious, a Kajol of the new generation.

Krk

When it is announced that Gulzar is making a comeback as a writer after almost 17 years, one really needs to sit up and take notice of the film. Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Mirzya starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher, has been written by Gulzar.
This film is important not only because it marks the debut of Anil Kapoor's son and Sonam Kapoor's brother Harshvardhan's debut but also because it makes an effort to answer a question that has been bothering folk tale lovers since ages.
Based on the romantic folklore of Mirza-Sahibaan, the love story post which the tradition of romantic tales died up in Punjab, boasts of Mehra's moving back and forth in time narration. The story goes that Mirza Jatt fell in love with his cousin Sahibaan while studying together as kids.Not in favour of their growing intimacy, Sahibaan's parents decided to marry her off to another man. However, she eloped with Mirza on her wedding day and with a fear that Mirza would kill her brothers, Sahibaan broke each of his arrows. When her brothers found them, they killed Mirza right away while he kept wondering as to why did Sahibaan betray him.
Will Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra bring to screen this folk lore effectively? Will he finally find a captivating answer to the story? Will Harshvardhan's performance win hearts? Will their chemistry do justice to Mirza-Sahibaan's love classic? Kriti Tulsiani from News18.com is inside the theater to find out.

Mirzya review: A colourful rendition of Shakespeare in Rajasthan



A would be bride's drunk father says. The girl seems far away from any sort of remorse. A silent war is happening between the two. The father has already lost, but he won't accept it. The daughter isn't a winner either, but the feeling is yet to sink in. Ironically, the person pulling all the strings in this tussle isn't one of them.

Two school kids in Jodhpur are inseparable. The girl isn't concerned about the boy's humble roots. They are happy until a tragedy befalls. Probably they would never see each other again. But, it isn't a tragedy to remember if it doesn't give a chance to rise and redeem.

So, they meet again in Udaipur after some years. They're Princess Suchitra (Saiyami Kher) and horse trainer Aadil (Harshvardhan Kapoor) now. Suchi's marriage with Prince Karan (Anuj Choudhary) is impending, and it's going to be an affair to remember.


Gulzar is back to screenplay writing after 17 years. His last was Hu Tu Tu in 1999. He chooses to depend on a sutradhar' (the narrator). Sometimes, it's a voiceover, sometimes it's a group of tribal women.

The women wear colourful clothes and dance to the song reflecting the protagonists' mental states.

Add to it Shankar Ehsaan Loy's music that reflects the ecstatic pain of love and takes the narration forward.

They aren't directly related to this love-story, but they understand the universal language of affection and empathy.



Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra creates a surreal world here. He experiments with his time warp film. He is confident about his storytelling technique. He has used it effectively in Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

And he is willing to add more drama. Like a stage play. Amidst colour blasts and oiled bodies. Super slow motion shots are his tools, and he frequently features them. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's songs are whet he needs. Together, they form an ethereal haze which invites you to get lost in the mist.



You don't mind if Gulzar's couplets cover almost the entire film. They are beautifully written and fantastically captured by the cinematographer Pawel Dyllus.

Also, a predictable story requires such gimmicks. We know Mirza-Sahibaan's saga, one of Punjab's most famous folklores. The interest was around how Mehra presents it, and he nails it, but what about intercuts to the real-time story?


In this part, he doesn't have the luxury of Zack Snyder's 300 like graphics, or saturated colours, or booming background score. The lead actors' performances are his prime savior, so giving them less dialogues appears like a wise decision. It helps in escalating the tension too.

However, the undercurrent of a passionate love never reaches the surface. Despite gloss and technical wizardry, the audience fails to feel the pain. It becomes tough for them to root for anybody. You keep watching everything from a distance.

From placement of props to every character's marking, Mirzya shows some technical finesse. It's shot with poetic sensibilities, but that's probably not enough to stir the audience's soul.