The
promotions
of
Mirch
had
suddenly
caught
one's
eye,
thanks
to
its
attention-grabbing
promos,
which
are
full
of
love-making
scenes.
You
are
forewarned
at
the
outset
that
this
film
talks
of
four
adulterous
people.
But
the
question
is,
haven't
we
watched
men
cheating
women
in
so
many
movies
in
the
past?
Haven't
women
caught
their
men
with
their
pants
down,
in
the
past?
So
what's
new
in
Mirch?
For
a
change,
the
women
in
Mirch
are
into
adultery.
They
are
the
ones
who
are
cheating
on
their
husbands
and
in
each
of
those
stories
the
woman
manages
to
go
scot-free
when
caught
red-handed
with
her
lover.
Was
asked
a
pertinent
question
while
watching
this
film:
Is
the
audience
mature
enough
to
handle
the
portrayal
of
female
sexuality
on
screen?
Well,
first
and
foremost,
moviegoers
are
mature
enough
to
understand
and
laud
good
themes
and
subjects
and
Mirch,
which
director
Vinay
Shukla
refers
to
as
"a
celebration
of
womanhood",
narrates
four
separate
stories
based
on
issues
of
women
emancipation
and
also
dabbles
with
gender
equality
in
a
relationship.
It's
a
sex
comedy
with
generous
doses
of
wit;
not
a
serious
take
on
feminism.
Again,
it
is
erotic
in
parts,
but
not
vulgar.
We've
seen
lots
of
films
dealing
with
male
sexuality,
but
Mirch
deals
with
women's
libido
and
that
too
in
a
funny
way.
Vinay
Shukla
is
capable
of
combining
the
subtlety
of
good
cinema
within
the
accepted
communicative
form.
His
new
effort
is
structurally
quite
innovative,
something
that
hasn't
been
tried
yet.
However,
I
wish
to
clarify
that
the
four
individualistic
stories
in
Mirch
aren't
remotely
similar
to
the
Darna
Mana
Hai,
Darna
Zaroori
Hai
and
Dus
Kahaniyaan
format.
There's
a
fifth
story
that
connects
to
them.
The
first
story,
from
'Panchtantra',
is
placed
in
ancient
times,
while
the
second
is
placed
in
medieval
times
and
inspired
from
the
14th
century
Italian
classic
'The
Decameron'
by
Italian
author
Giovanni
Boccaccio.
The
third
is
from
an
Italian
fable
set
in
contemporary
times
and
the
fourth
has
been
written
by
Shukla
himself.
Interesting
stories
all,
but
the
level
of
interest
in
those
four
stories
fluctuates
radically.
While
the
first
two
stories
are
wonderful,
mainly
because
the
'games'
women
play
in
those
stories
catch
you
by
complete
surprise,
the
third
and
fourth
stories
are
a
sharp
contrast.
You
feel
let
down
because
they're
outright
predictable
and
not
a
patch
on
the
ones
that
you
had
watched
in
the
first
hour.
Final
word?
Mirch
has
two
stories
in
the
first
half
[great]
and
two
stories
in
the
second
[disappointing],
while
the
fifth
one,
which
binds
all
the
earlier
tales,
is
a
downer
as
well.
Eventually,
it
falls
short
of
expectations!
Maanav
[Arunoday
Singh]
is
a
struggling
writer
unwilling
to
compromise
on
the
script
he
has
written.
His
girlfriend
Ruchi
[Konkona
Sen
Sharma],
a
successful
film
editor,
arranges
for
him
to
meet
Nitin
[Sushant
Singh],
a
film
producer.
Nitin
likes
the
script,
but
is
not
very
sure
of
its
commercial
prospects.
Maanav
then
suggests
a
story
from
the
Panchtantra:
A
woman
[Raima
Sen]
is
caught
red-handed
with
her
lover
[Arunoday
Singh]
by
her
husband
[Rajpal
Yadav]
and
yet,
she
manages
to
wriggle
out
of
it
scot-free.
Nitin
loves
the
story,
but
finds
it
too
short
for
a
feature
film.
Maanav
then
creates
three
more
stories
based
on
the
same
premise.
In
a
way,
the
Panchtantra
story
travels
in
different
versions
to
the
modern
times
through
the
film.
The
four
stories
are
woven
together
by
a
common
story.
What
needs
to
be
appreciated
is
the
fact
that
Vinay
Shukla
presents
a
serious
issue
[adultery]
in
a
light-hearted
manner.
In
fact,
not
once
do
you
feel
that
he
is
trying
to
make
a
serious
comment
on
femininity
or
sexuality.
There
are
a
few
love-making
scenes,
but
they
have
been
aesthetically
shot.
Nothing
sleazy
about
them.
But,
like
I
pointed
out
earlier,
while
the
writing
in
the
pre-interval
portions
is
excellent,
with
the
narrative
keeping
the
viewer
engrossed,
it's
the
screenplay
in
the
post-interval
portions
that
doesn't
live
up
to
the
expectations.
In
fact,
the
film
gets
tedious
after
a
point,
towards
the
finale
specifically.
There's
not
much
scope
for
music
in
Mirch
and
although
there're
a
couple
of
tracks,
'Badra'
[Monty
Sharma]
is
easily
the
best
of
the
lot.
It
has
a
haunting
tune
and
its
placement
in
the
narrative
is
appropriate.
Also
noteworthy
are
the
dialogue,
especially
in
the
first
two
stories.
Mirch
stars
some
of
the
best
names
in
the
business.
Konkona
is
excellent,
Raima
conveys
so
much
through
her
expressive
eyes,
Shahana
is
wonderful
and
Ila
Arun
is
first-rate.
A
major
part
of
the
film
is
placed
on
Arunoday
Singh's
broad
shoulders
and
he
stands
tall
with
a
natural,
likable
act.
Sushant
Singh
is
perfect,
Shreyas
Talpade
is
sincere,
Rajpal
Yadav
is
earnest,
Boman
Irani
is
just
right,
Prem
Chopra
is
flawless
and
Tisca
Chopra
is
fiery.
Saurabh
Shukla
shines
in
a
brief
role.
On
the
whole,
Mirch
blends
the
serious
issue
of
gender
equality
with
the
comic
flavour
of
the
film
well,
at
least
in
the
first
half.
But
it's
the
post-interval
portions
that
act
as
a
downer
and
in
turn,
makes
this
Mirch
not
as
spicy.
Director:
Vinay
Shukla
Cast:
Shreyas
Talpade,
Mahie
Gill,
Shahana
Goswami,
Konkona
Sen
Sharma,
Raima
Sen,
Arunoday
Singh,
Rajpal
Yadav