Mili

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.

A slow burner starring Jhanvi Kapoor & Sunny Kaushal mainly, which gets to the point after 40-45 minutes.

+ves : Jhanvi's acting performance which makes it a good movie to watch. Symbolism used in the film by the director especially through that mouse was something unique which looks great according to the context of the movie.

-ves : Extremely poor screenplay which makes you feel bored while waiting for the main series of events. It takes about 45-50 minutes to reach to its main plot, in a 2hrs movie, its really poor. Some over the top & illogical acts or events were also there in the movie. Considering modern age cinema, Director should definitely look into these categories.

However, if you have nothing to watch, you could go for this one. If you have that kind of patience to offer than you could give it a try.

BIG SHOUTOUT TO JHANVI KAPOOR!!!

This is the usual movie filmed around an expressionless actor Jahnvi kapoor Compare her with her mother Sri Devi. Audience can easily guess what is next and also the end result. Same formula, similar love story, motherless child brought up by single father. Best part of the movie has been shot in the freezer room of the fast food restaurant. Effectively the movie can be compressed to 20 % or even less.

Usually there are a plethora of safety devices for a deep freeze chamber which can be used in such situations. In emergency there are instructions within the freezer chamber for escape. The door lock can easily be opened without a key as one would do it from inside the house of main door. I would not recommend this movie. It is waste of time and money. There are much better choices on Netflix.

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.

Survival thrillers are a rarity in any film industry, let alone Bollywood, but there have been quite a few initiatives in the past few years, and I must say, regardless of their successes or failures, I'm glad that they at least attempted to venture into this relatively uncharted territory.

Coming back to 'Mili,' it's an official remake of 2019's Malayalam film 'Helen', which starred Anna Ben (which I haven't seen yet, so I have no way of comparing the two). This appears to be a reasonably competent thriller if I evaluate it strictly on its own merits.

In addition to delivering the expected ingredients of suspense and despair, it also captured the essence of a father-daughter relationship that blossomed into something wholehearted. In addition, everyone's performances were also very commendable. Particularly Janhvi Kapoor.

She may need a dozen opportunities for improvisation, but one cannot deny her willingness to take on unconventional roles that will force her to grow as an actress. She still has a long way to go, but one thing is for certain, she is indeed on the right course.