Mili Movie Review: Survival Drama or Father-Daughter Saga?

Plot

Remakes are all the rage in Bollywood, and Mili is the latest Hindi remake of Mathukutty Xavier’s Helen. The film follows Mili Naudiyal, a nursing graduate from Dehradun working part-time at a fast-food outlet while taking English lessons to secure a job in Canada. Mili finds herself stuck inside a restaurant’s freezer for over five hours, and the film is a survival drama about how she fights for her life.

Acting

Headlined by Janhvi Kapoor, Mili establishes her as an actor trying to be taken seriously. While she delivers an earnest performance, her acting remains inconsistent in the first half of the film. Manoj Pahwa plays Mili’s father and is effortless as the doting dad. Sunny Kaushal does a good job despite his limited screen time.

Cinematography

The film's cinematography captures the claustrophobic setting of the freezer and provides some chills and thrills. The makeup department does an excellent job of depicting the freezing temperatures and Mili's physical exertions.

Direction

Mathukutty Xavier directs the Hindi remake of his National-Award-winning Malayalam film. While Mili is mostly a loyal remake, it minimizes the impact of Helen's socio-political commentary by changing its religious prejudices for thinly-veiled casteism.

Overall

Mili is an interesting career choice for Janhvi Kapoor, but the payoff is not quite the same. While the film is a survival drama, it feels relatively unhurried, and fear doesn’t seep in even as the mall shuts, lights go off and the girl finds herself trapped in severe cold. Mili's father-daughter bond is beautiful to watch, but the film tries too hard to incorporate moral policing in small towns, pesky cops, and roadside Romeos. Overall, Mili lacks the nerve-wracking, gripping intensity that is most essential to this genre.

Bottomline

Janhvi Kapoor delivers an earnest performance, and Manoj Pahwa shines as the doting father. Mili establishes Janhvi Kapoor as an actor trying to be taken seriously, but it is uncertain whether the film is a survival drama or father-daughter saga.

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