mimic
Cast: Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Sai Tamhankar, Supriya Pathak, Manoj Pahwa
Director: Laxman Utekar
A woman’s life is hardly hers. Her autonomy over her body is more often than not determined by the environment around her. Society, socialization, economics and politics all determine the power a woman has over her body.
In Mimi, a beautiful 25-year-old dancer has the autonomy to make the decision to become a surrogate mother to fund her Bollywood dreams. However, her freedom of choice over her own body ends the moment the American couple who employs her give up on their plans. Mimi is then left to make the decision about what happens to her and the child in her womb.
While it’s a little disappointing that we’re already seeing all that in the trailer, the second act takes the movie in a different direction. We see Mimi, heartbroken by the betrayal and apparent loss of her dreams, decide to complete her pregnancy and, after the baby is born, raise him as her own child.
Mimi, with his subject matter, is clearly an emotional watch. The movie has a lot of heart. It uses its characters in a way to evoke emotions in the audience. However, that does not save it from its misses.
For starters, Mimi is written as a journey for the main character coming of age with responsibility. However, it comes across as a counterpoint to ambition. While Mimi’s dreams may seem too big for her parents and her society, they are still valid and legitimate dreams. But the creators treat her as a stubborn one with no real chance of accomplishing anything. So when she has the baby, it’s treated as a blessing that saved Mimi from a failed career. It’s like “thank god the baby grew her up.”
The film also tries to wake up, but with no real nuance to the problems it raises. It is a criticism of commercial surrogacy, how high-money foreigners exploit women from third world countries where surrogacy laws are not strict. However, it never really shows us how race can be a big part of this exploitation. The white couple gets their redemption bow. There’s a lot of casual coloring in the movie, considering that Mimi’s kid is white. On the other hand, there are also undertones of the white savior complex, how the decision made at the end of the white woman determines the future of Mimi and her son.
Mimi presents itself as a film in which the woman is central. However, Kriti Sanon’s character goes into an anti-abortion diatribe, saying that if killing a child from the womb is wrong, so is killing the fetus. By doing so, however, Mimi is not only undermining the rights of women of their own choosing, but also of her fellow surrogates, who would otherwise be trapped in this situation.
Then there are a lot of issues that are mentioned but not explored. We see a very skewed view of disability. Adoption in the film is tinged with the aforementioned white savior complex. (Garth Davis’ Lion is a good movie to watch on this subject). There is also an attempt to show religious unity, but in the end they perpetuate stereotypes.
The actors in Mimi are great. This is easily one of Kriti Sanon’s best performances. Her hard work is on display, but unfortunately she is limited by the writing. Pankaj Tripathi is the delight of the movie as usual, and his character is best written by Utekar and Rohan Shankar.
Sai Tamhankar puts him in a tough competition. But her character is pretty half-baked. Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak are underused, especially the latter who just cries in many scenes while Pahwa provides all the dialogue. Evelyn Edwards and Aidan Whytock do enough with what they have.
In a nutshell, Mimi is a women’s film written by men. That said, it also has its own endearing moments. It’s also quite funny in some places, with certain scenes getting their punches right. Watching Pankaj Tripathi interact with Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak is also a joy.
Mimi dropped to Netflix and Jio Cinema four days earlier before its expiration date. It can’t hurt to give it a watch.
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