Whenever a Hindi filmmaker thinks about remaking a Tamil or Telugu film, he opts for a commercial potboiler or actioner which a big star could fit in. In the recent past several Hindi films like No Entry’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Ready’, ‘Singham’ were official remakes of popular Telugu/Tamil hits which also went on to become much successful in their rebooted avatars. Of course, there have been films like ‘Boss’ and ‘Rangrezz’ which failed to make an impact. ‘Mitron’, directed by Nitin Kakkar who made the much acclaimed ‘Filmistaan’ four years back, is the authorised remake of Telugu hit ‘Pelli Choopulu’. I have not seen the original but from the trailer, one could infer that this is a film that showcases the ambition of today’s youth in India.
Jai (Jackky Bhagnani) has studied automobile engineering but is yet to clear some exams he has failed in. He lacks ambition in life and spends most of his time roaming around the city with his friends Raunak (Pratik Gandhi) and Deepu (Shivam Parekh). As suggested by an astrologer, Jai’s father (Neeraj Sood) believes that his son will start taking his career seriously and stand up on his own feet only after he gets married. They start looking for a suitable match for him and soon, set up a meeting with Avni (Kritika Kamra) and her family. Avni tells Jai that she does not want to get married as she wants to go to Australia for further studies. They end up getting locked in a room and narrate some key incidents from each other’s lives to while away time.
As stated earlier, I have not seen ‘Pelli Choopulu’, the film which ‘Mitron’ derives its basic premise from, so I would not be able to draw any kind of comparisons between the two. As a standalone film, it worked pretty well for me. Though the film takes a while to bring its main conflict to the fore, the two-hour long film seldom makes you disinterested in the proceedings. The film does remind you of the ‘pyaar vs vyaapar’ conflict in ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ and the food truck elements bring back memories of ‘Chef’. Also, if you look at the overall graph of the film, you feel there is a dearth of dramatic high points and the screenplay tends to get extremely simplistic at times. Having said that, the film does have an original voice and there are a couple of scenes, in particular, that are quite memorable. The sequence in which Jai goes to Avni’s place, meets her father and tells him how unfair it is for parents to expect their children to follow a particular pattern or cycle and lead a maudlin life, the rules for which are set by a largely traditional society.
Jackky Bhagnani puts in a sincere performance. He has also gained weight to look the part of a lethargic young man who does not have any goal in life. Kritika Kamra, who has delivered several memorable performances on television, gives a very good account of herself in her film debut. She is easy on the eyes and delivers a very confident performance. Pratik Gandhi, a big name in Gujarati cinema, is very effective as Raunak. Shivam Parekh, too, gets several scenes to shine. Neeraj Sood is very good as Jai’s partly overbearing and partly concerned father. Mohan Kapur leaves a lasting impression in a brief role.
‘Mitron’ is a breezy entertainer that has its heart in the right place. Though it offers little in terms of novelty and is bereft of high-octane drama, that had the scope to seep into film of this nature, it makes for a consistently engaging watch.