Mili

Bollywood do have few survival thrillers, if anyone watched Rajkumar Rao's Trapped, then you will feel this one a mere dissatisfaction. But its not just survival, though the main theme is that but they have added a lots of Bollywood elements to it and emotions. Don't expect a thriller because the story is simple but the acting and drama is really fun to watch. Every actor is fun to watch and how story builds up is interesting but lacks depth in the survival theme. The movie would have been a whole different movie if it focused on the survival angle but it covers also the unnecessary parts which makes the film boring. The start was slow and didn't added much to the story, so were some middle parts, felt parts like when Jackie Shroff appears and illogical delays made by police overexaggerated. In India, I don't think police would take such extensive actions if someone is missing for just 4-5 hours. Jhanvi acted well, I came to see her and she didn't disappointed, but her character could have been smarter then what was portrayed.

Survival Instinct is the theme of the movie! Story of a girl who gets accidentally locked in a freezer for 5 hours. Unique storyline with good execution. Ignore the initial 45 mins though!

My ratings 6.5/10!

Survival Instinct is the theme of the movie! Story of a girl who gets accidentally locked in a freezer for 5 hours. Unique storyline with good execution. Ignore the initial 45 mins though! My ratings 6.5/10!

Survival Instinct is the theme of the movie! Story of a girl who gets accidentally locked in a freezer for 5 hours. Unique storyline with good execution. Ignore the initial 45 mins though! My ratings 6.5/10!

This was definitely not your typical Bollywood movie. I expected song and dance, and I got something completely different. I was pleasantly surprised by the originality. There were plot holes all over the place, and characters acted nonsensically and unrealistically at times. However, the storyline itself is not bad. The lead actress does a credible job although the writers have her doing some pretty dumb things at times. Nevertheless, I was happy that the movie did not follow the old, worn out Indian movie formula and struck new ground with creativity. The first half was better than the second, but overall this was a solid watch.

Another survival thriller, and not a very good one at that. First, the movie drags on for far too long, and it takes a lot of time until the film's main plot element comes to the fore. The big problem, however, is that much of what happens once the girl is stuck in the freezer lacks credibility and is amazingly cliché and predictable. There's no logic in freezers having no safety devices or inside door handles, especially inside malls. Even what happens out of it is poorly handled. How come no one thought to check the control room which would immediately whether she's left the restaurant. Everything Mili does in terms of decision making feels slow and not suitable for such a high-strung situation. That she doesn't keep herself in constant movement (for most of it she just sits rested) nor try to check the walls in due time and find an existing tunnel does not make any sense either. Above all, that she spends so much time inside it and is still in her senses, and she is, doesn't ring true for a minute. One can think of so many things she could have done to break the fans other than try to strike it with a stick or throw packages of frozen meat at them (like the ladder, for one).

Mili is watchable nonetheless, but another fault is the editing - the movement back and forth between the freezer and the girl's family looking for her is most exhausting. The film could have been shortened in a way that would have made the entire project much more effective and worth a watch. I think the sub-genre of survival films has become (like any other successful sub-genre) repetitive and this film just follows the same tropes without offering anything original. More than anything, Jahnvi Kapoor, who is pretty, is quite okay but honestly just isn't good enough this time. Not going to do what everyone else already does and compare her to her mother (and I've done this before so why do it again), and not going to say she isn't a good actress because she did well in other films, but here the lack of experience shows and she struggles a lot with the proceedings. Since in many ways this is a one-woman show, it required an actress so charismatic and expressive that many of its flaws would have been forgiven. Overall, Mili is, again, a watchable film which is overlong, predictable and not good enough. Many things could have been done to improve it.

The negatives out of the way first: there is much that is predictable and stereotypical in certain characters' behavior and plot outcomes. And the opening sequence begins with an ant, when there is a far more impressive creature in the story we are invited to care about.

All that said, even though we know this is a remake and the star is the producer's granddaughter; even though we know it would take far more time and healing for her recovery, that all slips over to the side in light of Kapoor's superb performance. Because that is this film's success: a smart woman, also a nurse, who keeps thinking of viable ways to survive in an increasingly impossible situation. And even tries to save her little patient trapped with her as well. She has both Courage and Compassion that make us want her to survive. I enjoyed this movie. 7.5 Recommended.