VK [Ranvir Shorey] has come to Mumbai, chasing big film dreams, like thousands of others. When fate makes him a pawn in a master game plan of the underworld, he unknowingly gets drawn into a whirlpool of events that will determine his future. Then an unexpected accident turns the tables for everybody involved.

Now begins a chase that won’t stop at anything. VK is too deep into it now to step back. Unknowingly, he has become an imposter, an imposter who wasn’t.

On script level, a film like MITHYA has layers and more layers and is indeed a complex theme to handle. Not everyone can attempt it, since a theme like this has to be handled very, very carefully, else it may boomerang. That’s where an expert storyteller like Rajat Kapoor steps in.

You get instantly sucked into the struggler’s world and gradually forget that you’re a viewer. You become a bystander. You feel it’s happening right there in front of your eyes, experiencing everything firsthand.

The best part of the script [writers: Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor] is that you cannot predict the next moment. Its unpredictability is its USP. The film moves about in a serpentine manner and as it reaches its culmination, you’re emphathizing with the struggler, who started somewhere else and ended at an altogether different destination. That’s destiny, isn’t it?

But the best part is the concluding moments. The culmination to Ranvir’s character — the way it has been filmed — leaves you stunned, speechless and of course, sad! Its execution cannot be described in mere words.

Neha Dhupia in Mithya Like its protagonist, Mithya is a moody film, longing and lingering for more. It is a sharp film, mixing genres with unspectacular aplomb, and achieves possibly more than it set out to: sure it’s a fun thriller, but in regard to the eventuality of the protagonist, it almost turns into a mystery movie.

Sure, there are flaws. The background score is more basic than a film written so neatly merits. Several establishing shots seem forced, as if a bunch of cutaways were glued together and called a scene. Occasionally, the mood-building and dreamscapes turn contrived. Post-interval, the film almost gives up the right to be called comic. Worst of all, the romance arc with Dhupia is hideously underdeveloped and premature, especially compared to Harshe’s compelling character.

Yet, Mithya works. This isn’t a film you’re going to watch because of the sheer craft or the romance: you pay for a comic thriller and you get it — and much more — anchored in place by a very strong leading man and a director refreshing in an approach that refuses to try too hard. Go watch this: 2008 is yet young, but so far this is the year’s best Hindi film.
Naseerudin Shah is impressive as the rival Don. He expresses well with his frustration sequences and depicts anger with ease via his tone of voice. Saurabh Shukla makes you giggle even when he tries to be serious. Vinay Pathak is a little underused in the film but is really funny as the nutty goon. Neha Dhupia doesn’t have much to do in the film but brings in that glamour element. She does much better than most of her other films. Harsh Chaya does well.

Well all in all the film would have been much better provided the writers (Rajat Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla ) didn’t mix things up a bit too much. The complexities in the film don’t entertain. The ‘Amnesia’ element introduced in the film just confuses the plot even more, in fact the ‘Amnesia’ factor isn’t convincing at all. The ending too is a little bit silly.

Considering the fact that the film was made way back and has been a film festival material , do go ahead and watch it for such performances are rare. Do note that Sagar Bellary ( director of Bheja Fry) was an associate director on this project.

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