Mandi

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.

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?

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.

Thank you, Shyam Benegal, for this masterpiece.

I had been planning to watch a Shyam Benegal movie for a long time but never got around to it. Sadly, we lost this legend a few days ago, so I decided to finally watch one of his most loved films, Mandi. And honestly, I was speechless after watching it. Right from the first scene, the movie had me hooked. The story is so heartfelt, with touches of dark comedy that keep it engaging.

What I loved most is how you slowly connect with every character. Shabana Azmi absolutely stole my heart-what a phenomenal actress! She plays a strict character, but in just a few moments, you find her adorable. I felt such an emotional connection with her. Smita Patil as Zeenat was equally brilliant; no doubt she was one of the finest actresses of her time.

Even actors with minimal screen time, like Amrish Puri, Annu Kapoor, and Naseeruddin Shah, left a mark with their amazing performances. Their presence added so much depth to the film.

This movie has made me want to dive deeper into Shyam Benegal's work. Rest in peace, Shyam Benegal-you've left behind a legacy that will inspire generations.

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