Mirch Release Date : 17,Dec 2010

Producer Reliance Big Pictures
Director Vinay Shukla
Music Monty Sharma
Lyrics Javed Akhtar
Release Date 17-Dec-2010

Now when was the last time you saw a Bollywood film dissecting female sexuality without being apologetic about it? Can't remember, can you? Bollywood has mostly turned its back to the sensual woman as a protagonist. Typically, there have been just two ways mainstream cinema has viewed female eroticism. By and large, the Indian film heroine is represented as a romantic, albeit asexual creature, who is terribly low on oestrogen. And in case she doesn't have an hormonal imbalance, she is straight-jacketed into the whore and vamp category. The Sex And The City sisterhood has still to find a place in Indian cinema.

Vinay Shukla tries to undo this lapse by delving into four tales where the woman seeks out sexual satisfaction on her own terms. Having earlier made Godmother, another woman-oriented film, the director does seem to have an adequate understanding of the female psyche. All his four stories have a delightful and cheeky charm to them. Two of the stories feature Raima Sen as the protagonist as she enjoys a bit on the side, first as a carpenter's (Raghubir Yadav) wife and then as a modern woman who finds a lover, just to spite her suspicious husband (Shreyas Talpade). The other two focus on Konkona Sen Sharma's naughty escapades, first as an unsatiated young queen of yore and then as a shrewd wife of a philandering husband (Boman Irani). Add to this the turbulent romance between the scriptwriter and his girlfriend (Shahana Goswami) and you have a film that holds your attention. But not completely....

The garbled end and the misconstrued tenor of the film do act as a deterrent. Even as the women seem to be enjoying themselves with their unbridled expression of their sexual needs, the film tends to view them as the traditional not-to-be-trusted temptress. Overlook that and you can enter a world where women indeed are full-bodied flesh and blood characters. Both Raima and Konkona are a treat.