Neena Gupta and Jackie Shroff have done a great job of strengthening the film
A deftly written comedy about two elderly men who form an unlikely friendship after their home is burglarized, Mast me rehne ka A gentle little film that reveals the homely truths of living in a megapolis that never stops for anyone, least of all those who have outlived their usefulness or fallen by the wayside.
Mumbai certainly doesn’t stop for the two aging heroes. They are in the autumn of their lives but they react differently to the loss that plagues them in their later years. The man, played with great tenacity by Jackie Shroff, succumbs to a monotonous routine that saps all his energy. Lived with verve by Neena Gupta, this woman is full of beans, though she too has sold her share of lemons by life.
On a parallel narrative track, a small duo languish beneath an urban pile. At both ends of the spectrum, Mast me rehne ka About a relationship that affirms the human urge – and power – to find connection against all odds and across obstacles.
Directed by writer and actor and screenplay/dialogue writer Vijay Maurya, Mast me rehne kaStreaming on Amazon Prime Video, a simple story that alternates between hilarity and poignancy without missing too many beats.
Maurya’s Mumbai is a city that gives no quarter. Nanhe, an immigrant, is a skilled tailor but has the most slippery existence in town. He faces one obstacle after another but he has so much to go on even though nothing seems to be going his way.
its flow Mast me rehne ka is episodic. It jumps from one situation to another, and one break-in to another, but holds itself together, thanks to its inherent empathy for its characters, each sharply etched and impeccably acted by the four lead actors.
VS Kamath (Shroff) is desperately lonely, so alone that he is now just counting his days. Prakash Kaur Handa (Gupta) has learned to hide her wounds behind a bubbly face. The former is frustratingly reticent, the latter never stops talking.
Kamath believes that life is like the waves of the ocean that endlessly hit the shore, with no one aiming or grasping them. For the never-say-die expression, the act of living is as simple a pleasure as salivating over a raw mango eaten with a pinch of salt. The film treats the drama of two worldviews colliding and coming together with humor and warmth.
The transformative emotional bond that forms between a 75-year-old widow and a proud grandmother (a child in Canada) during their morning walk in the park and forced trip to the police station has a touch of the miraculous. .
Even more unlikely are tailor-thief Nanhe (Abhishek Chauhan) and a glamorous street dweller, Rani (Monika Panwar) who suddenly cross paths. Here too, the film presents a study in contrasts. Nanhe is susceptible to depression at the slightest shock, Rani is a tough nut to crack, survives the mean streets of Mumbai and has faced many storms.
Mast me rehne kaWith the heart in the right place, papers on the occasional creases with the help of writing vitality. The story of the film is Payal Arora and the director. It’s between two specific pairs of people in a specific city – the idiosyncrasies of the Mumbai conversation are perfectly captured by Maurya’s dialogues and they add a layer to the film – but it’s not just about this guy and a city.
As the film revolves around the four individuals we begin to care about them and locate them in the relentless rhythm of a busy city that makes things extremely difficult for those pushed to its edges by old age or poverty. Kamath, Prakash, Nanhe and Rani’s struggles are their own but the arcs they traverse are universal.
Mast me rehne ka No pity is shown for Kamath and Prakash – both the heart of the film – or for Nanhe and Rani. Their resilience in the face of loneliness and adversity is what makes the film interesting. The elderly pair’s problems force them to look inward. The obstacles Nanhe and Rani face, on the other hand, are caused by external factors rooted in the world they inhabit.
Kamath, who lost his wife more than a decade ago, is precariously low on zest for life. He sees his perfect health record as a curse. In Prakash Kaur, who has seen unsettling opposites but learns to deal with them, finds a friend who opens a door for her.
Where they not only (at least partially) determine their thought processes, it also highlights the melting-pot nature of the city. Kamath is a Kannadiga. Prakash is a Punjabi who describes Kamath as a ‘Madrasi’, ignorant of the distinct southern state’s identity. Kamath takes that good-natured perversion in his stride.
Both are outsiders but not materially deprived like Nonhe and Rani. Nonhe costs his job at a tailoring shop when a woman shoots him in the face in front of a customer. He is forced to move into a windowless tenement which sums up his life situation – there is no hope.
The begging queen at the traffic signal, a feisty woman, never gave up on her dream. To be sure, there are none. Bilkis (Rakhi Sawant), a choreographer who is in the business of taking dance troupes to Dubai, gives Nanhe a big order for the dancers’ costumes. Crunched deadlines send struggling tailors scurrying. Life begins to spiral out of control with the stakes for him.
Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta do a great job of energizing an interesting film that relies more on light twists than high drama. Equally great are Abhishek Chauhan and Monika Panwar. The former conveys a combination of vulnerability and undying hope, while the latter delivers a performance that is full of soul.
Mast Mein Rehne Ka is proof that director between actor and writer Vijay Maurya is anything but ordinary.
