Mast Mein Rehne Ka is a thoroughly human film, which makes you laugh as hard as it will make you feel for the characters, notes Mayur Sanap.
When perennially-bored, almost recluse Mr Kamath (Jackie Shroff) meets spunky, free-spirited Ms Handa (Neena Gupta), they have no idea that this unexpected relationship will take them on a journey that may alter their entire outlook.
The two eccentric characters form an 'odd couple' that turns even as they find each other and celebrate their offbeat lives together.
It's a predictable formula for light entertainment but in his feature film debut Mast Mein Rehne Ka, actor Vijay Maurya treats the subject with surprising amount of heart and humour to give us a profound tale about human relationships.
Maurya and his co-writer Payal Arora center their story in bustling Mumbai, which serves as an important character in the film.
Besides the elderly couple, the narrative is padded with another track of a hustler named Nanhe (Abhishek Chauhan) and a sex worker Rani (Monika Panwar), who are meandering their way through the chaotic and heartless city.
Despite nothing in common, these characters start finding solace in each other and bring on little shenanigans that spice up their otherwise mundane existence.
It nicely explores themes of love, longing, heartbreak and life with a fresh perspective. All this may sound heavy but the film explores these themes with a feisty sense of humour and an air of quirkiness around it.
The titular rap song suggesting how life is all about living to the fullest truly encapsulates the spirit of the film as Nagraj Rathinam's camera captures the overbearing nature of the city.
The stars of the film, Gupta and Shroff, play their parts with relish and share excellent chemistry with each other.
She is a boisterous Punjabi lady with the mole on her chin who unwittingly calls him 'Madrasi' as he meekly explains to her that every south Indian is not from Madras!
Shroff exudes wondrously warm personality as this soft-spoken man, who is so lonely that he welcomes a burglar into his home.
Abhishek Chauhan and Monika Panwar (of Jamtara fame) offer great poignancy to go with the ironic fun and the young actors are as good as their senior counterparts.
In her surprising return to the screen, Rakhi Sawant adds an extra layer of drama and fun to the narrative as a sassy dress designer named Bilkis. Rakhi projects her with usual style and enthusiasm and keeps us entertained with her scene-stealing turn.
Overall, Mast Mein Rehne Ka is a thoroughly human film, which makes you laugh as hard as it will make you feel for the characters.
It has enough going for it to recommend at least a single viewing.
Mast Mein Rehne Ka streams on Amazon Prime Video.
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