Movie Review - Mirza Juuliet by Suhel Johar

Mirza Juuliet Is A Messed Up Film.

 

The story of star-crossed lovers isn't new to Bollywood. Romeo and Juliet, Mirza-Sahiba, these sagas about impossible love and passion in the face of hatred and deceit is an oft-repeated one. Director Rajesh Ram Singh has done an original, sometimes enthusiastic, mostly otherwise limp and sagging, take on the Romeo-Juliet/Mirza-Sahibaan sagas. He mixes and matches the two love legends with wild creative aspirations. Sometimes, the blend of the familiar and the unexplored is glaring in its mismatch. The end result, Mirza Juuliet, is truly a tragedy because the plot or pattern, offers nothing new.

The film is set in North Indian heartland and is rustic and raw in its treatment. Mirza Juuliet is a fight between lust and love.

The small town of Mirzapur plays host to Mirza and Juuliet's "association". For most parts it's just that.

After a politician gets shot in a religious conflict in Mirzapur, things are tensing up on the political front. On the other hand, taking the town on her head is Jullie Shukla (Pia Bajpai) who is the sister of an influential politician, Dharamraj (Priyanshu Chatteerjee) and is also set to marry in an even bigger political family. Her fiancé Rajan Pandey (Chandan Roy Sanyal) is a sex maniac and Jullie is quite tired of his antics pre-marriage itself.  The dysfunctional Julie is as schizophrenic as possible. Docile and obedient to her bullying brothers and mouthing gaalis and throwing chappals as she steps out.

Things tense up when she meets Mirza (Darshan Kumar) who is her childhood friend after years. After realizing that Mirza is her childhood friend, she decides to go on long bike rides with him. The two soon grow close and even fall in love. Mouthing gaalis she may be but she is typically nubile in true Hindi films style who knows nothing about love making but must ask her childhood friend about it.

Will Mirza and Jullie’s love survive amongst the political involvements is what is left to see.

The love story is completely cliched and extremely tiresome considering you have figured out the supposed ‘tragic’ end already. The weak link of the film is its tragic woeful story that has been running for centuries. The loud colours, the flamboyant storytelling and characters who have no respect for the law of the land have all been seen before. Although the length of the film is close to 2 hours but editing is not right, it seems to be long drawn. In this film there is less emotions and more confusion. The climax is painfully slow, stretched and illogical. The hero apparently turns into some kind of an alien who despite being felled with bullets does not die. With so many guns involved in the climax, you feel like borrowing one just to spare yourself of the ongoing horror.

It's refreshing to see a Hindu-Muslim love story though where the lovers' religious identity is never really an issue. Their social status is.

While it mostly enrages moviegoers with weird cuts and irrational explanations, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has surprised us with their “censorship, or lack of it” on a few rare occasions. Manoj Bapayee’s Aligarh (2015) and Swara Bhaskar’s Anaarkali of Aarah are other examples of similar benevolence from CBFC recently.

In Mirza Juuliet the Censor board has allowed more sex in  than any other recent film. So is the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) finally turning a new leaf? Apparently the cusswords and profanities in the Hindi language which are normally ordered out were here allowed to stay.  Mirza Juuliet has even has a scene with the hero masturbating, which has not been cut. Sex, it seems, is no longer taboo. Not when Shakespeare is at its helm.

Coming to Rajesh Ram Singh’s direction, there’s a lot of mismanagement there. Lots of continuity lapses happen here but most of the time, you’re too bored to pay heed to that. Singh’s partner in crime in churning out this abysmal film is its writer Shanti Bhushan who has been credited with the story, screenplay and dialogues for the film.

Cinematography by Ajay Pandey is somewhat decent in parts. Editing by Sahil Sai is patchy. Music by Krsna Solo is bad while background score by Hiesh Sonik is okay.

Darshan Kumar, who was so impressive as Mary Kom's compassionate husband in Mary Kom and the honour-killing brother in NH10, in his first role of a typical Bollywood hero brings a quiet strength to the role of the troubled Muslim youth who is tired of being used as a political pawn. Pia Bajpai is overtly loud as Jullie Shukla. She has a good screen presence and potential to do better.

Priyanshu Chatterji as Juliet 's misogynist bother and Swanand Kirkire as the manipulative politician are decent. Chandan Roy Sanyal as her obsessive fiancé hams his way through the film.

On the whole, Mirza Juuliet is a waste of time and money.