Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh

What will you do if you are short? What will you do if you like a girl who is taller than you? What if you marry her? What if you become jealous of other people because they interact very well with your 'taller' wife? Do you feel like a 'langur ke haath mein hoor'??? This is the crux of the movie "main meri patni aur woh"... Spoilers ahead.

Mithilesh Shukla (Rajpal Yadav) is a librarian in Lucknow University. A very methodical man, he is soft spoken , and would rather wait for the students to vacate chairs in the canteen than bustle his way in. His aged mother lives in their ancestral house some distance away, and he takes good care of her, and has been responsible for his siblings marriage and lifestyle.

He has only one friend in the college, and that is Salim, the hockey coach, who is an incorrigible flirt. It so happens that Mithilesh's mother and Mamaji decide that the time has come for him to marry. So they go off to Bareilly to have a look at the girl. They arrive in the bride's house to a pompous reception, and are treated to heavy breakfasts and lunches. Mithilesh is reluctant to see the girl, but once he sees the girl, he falls head over heels for her, and they both talk for a long time over tea. Just when Mamaji begins to suggest that the girl herself may have rejected Mithilesh on count of his height, the girl Veena (Rituparna Sengupta) agrees for the match.

Marriage over, they return to Lucknow, and start their household. Right from the milkman, to the sabji wala to Salim, everyone seems overawed by the fact that Mithilesh got such a nice girl for a bride. This sows the seeds of distrust and discord in Mithilesh's heart. To add fuel to the fire, the computerisation of the library is taken up by one Akash (Kay Kay Menon) who happens to be Veena's college mate. Akash and Veena get along like a house on fire, and this angers Mithilesh even more. Whats more, Akash even lands up in front of their flat, and begins a session of 'pegs' on the building terrace.

Mithilesh buys a car, but Akash ends up clinching the deal for them, Mithilesh takes everyone along for a movie, and Veena happens to mention that it is only after Akash came along that the movie plan has materialised. Mithilesh begins to feel that something is going on between Veena and Akash. He follows Veena and sees her going into his Mamaji's office and coming out crying. He sneaks inside and overhears his Mamaji talking about a divorce. Armed with this knowledge, he takes her to a five-star restaurant garden, and high on Scotch and cigarettes, blurts out his reservations. How she takes it is the beginning of the climax, for which you will have to see the film yourself.

Rajpal Yadav excels in the scenes when they go to meet the bride for the first time. His forte is comedy, and he does justice to the scenes which have some element of humour. He looks out of place in the other scenes and looks queer sometimes. Rituparna looks okay, but her Bong looks predominate in the film...the big forehead spot, and the body language to be specific. KK Menon looks stunning in a traditional kurta in a ghazal scene, and his performance is pretty okay considering the cameo he gets to do.

All in all, a good movie if you have nothing else to do in the evening, which is why I went there in the first place.

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