Mili

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.

Janhvi did what she could (and what was in her abilities) to save the slow and uninteresting plot of the movie. At no point were any of the other cast memorable and did not prove useful in any way until the very end. The movie is watchable, but that's due to Janhvi.

Although there were some sweet moments of Janhvi's character, particularly in the latter half of the movie. Those were touching but I wish the other characters were developed more.

The sound track sounded good (AR Rehman ofc) but the lyrics were written by a 9 year old. It seemed like mostly everything in the movie was carelessly chosen.

Mili is a drama thriller film directed by mathukutty xavier. It is the official remake of the malayalam film 'helen' directed by the same director.

Jhanvi kapoor has improved a lot since her dhadak days. She has understood the assignment and she knew that only facial expressions were not enough to emote, she definitely did a fine job with her body language as well. Though she needs to work more upon her dialogue delivery, its still a work in progress. She should take more challenging roles like this. Manoj pahwa does some outstanding work here. As mili's father, he shows the anguish and fear of losing his child brilliantly. He is a veteran, who got the space here and just nailed it. Sunny kaushal did not have much to do, his was mostly of a reaction role. The other supporting characters were good. Anurag arora will definitely challenge you with your patience.

The cinematography is brilliant. The freezer scenes are exquisite. The contrast between the outer world and that confined space was brilliantly built up through the camera distance from the character. There was no space in the freezer for mili, close up shots, zoomed in shots were the majority. The sound mixing too is brilliant. You get literally startled in some sequences, when the sound suddenly kicks in. The scene where sound fades out from the freezer, to the employee chamber, to the shop door was a good one.

There is some visual storytelling as well. In the opening sequence, an ant is followed by the camera. What happens with it is literally the plot of the movie, and the ending too is the same ant one. The songs are quite good, not AR's best but 'jeena hoga' and 'tu hai rahi' are really melodious.

There is a brilliant cameo by jackie shroff. The film also talks about the caste differences that is still a major talking point in north india and also the subtle misogyny about a girl working late night shifts. Also, the different shades of police force is also beautifully dealt with.

The screenplay is smooth and seldom lets its viewers off the hook. The emotional core of mili and her father is set up wonderfully and that is one of the major reasons why we connect with it. The character of sameer could have been written better, his love with mili was half baked.

A pretty good remake with some really good performances with an impeccable sound design. Should watch this!!

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.

I haven't seen the original but from reports it seems its a frame to frame remake of Helen .

Mili is about a girl named Mili who gets trapped in large refrigerator and battles her life out to survive as her loved ones search for her.

It's like you are searching for your spectacles all around your house without realising it's in your pocket (or prolly you are wearing it only lol).

Before going to other points , i have to admit this is Jahnvi's best performance till date. It's very hard to do a role like this and the director has brought the best out of her . Not only does she excels in her scenes with her father, but also her pain is captured brilliantly in the fridge. Very few are watching this in theatres but once it comes on ott, people will realise how good Jahnvi was in this film and is probably one of the few nepo actresses trying out some really challenging roles from helicopter pilot to this. What you can't deny is so far she has done films where women have meaty character rather than just be a showpiece like how other young actresses are made to do.

The father daughter scenes are terrific. Jahnvi scolding her father for smoking ciggerate like as if she is his mother is really nice to watch. Manoj Pahwa is a gem of an actor . He excels in emotional scenes.

Sunny Kaushal has a decent role here but is basically a side character nothing else.

That cruel inspector, the actor who played the role was terrific! His job was to instill hatred in us and did it with ease and conviction. The casting i have to admit has been spot on.

The only one place i found it to be rather weird and illogical is the final part where Manoj gets hold of her unconscious daughter in the fridge and dude ! Instead of rushing her to the hospital, he just sits there in the cold fridge crying over her body and trying to wake her up!! Dude she's alive or dead, just take her to the hospital asap. I think only after a good 3 mins he realised this and that's weird melodrama.

Songs were really good thanks to AR sir.

Just because it's a remake you can't bash it. I know Bollywood is making too many remakes but then keeping that aside , just analyse the product. This review of mine is a remake only review as i havent seen the original and all i can say, it's a satisfying product. Also, it would be unfair to compare this to Trapped, the latter was survival only film and of much higher quality.