Mehndi

Producer: Salim Akhtar
Director : Hamid Ali Khan
*ing: Rani Mukherjee, Faraaz Khan, Himani Shivpuri, Pramod Moutho, Shakti Kapoor & Shahbaaz Khan
Music: Babul

Released on : November 13, 1998

Reviewed by: Mohammad Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com

out of 
I beg of you Rani Mukherjee.  Please do not subject your fans to your wasting away your talent in any more socially (ir)relevant Salim Akhtar films.  If the rape victim marrying her assailant plot of Raja Ki Aayegi Baarat was not regressive enough for everyone, Mehndi's theme is not much better.  Besides, we have been subjected to the oppressed bahu takes revenge on her cruel in-laws topic umpteen times before.

This particular permutation of the poor girl marrying into a greedy household story, has the family-in-law cleverly using an Indecent Proposal like twist to throw the bahu (obviously Rani Mukherjee) out of the house.  Daddy dearest kicks the bucket and our heroine (an educated lawyer and doormat rolled into one, no less) vows to take revenge on her philandering ex-husband and family-in-law, post-interval.  As if you did not already guess, she succeeds.

The basic plot-line of Mehndi decidedly works for and against the film.  On one hand, you have the film idiotically presenting the stance of an educated woman who should know of her legal and human rights in this day and age; rather than divorcing her abusive husband and his demented family, she tells them that she will endure all their torture towards her and only leave their house in a casket.  (As if they would be any less than overwhelmingly happy to comply with providing her this scenario.)  On the other hand, when finally pushed to the brink, the hip heroine spews words of venom denouncing her ex-family-in-law and disavowing all her saat pheras before reeking revenge.  (It is quite an unintentionally humour-tinged scene that will have women libbers beating their chests in unison at Rani's dialogues.)  Thank God, the heroine does not return to the hubby at the end of the movie.

One wonders what Rani Mukherjee is doing in a movie as confused as this one. The woman has talent aplenty, as ably demonstrated in this year's earlier flicks, Ghulam and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.  Yet in Mehndi, the talented actress delivers a seemingly disinterested performance in a somewhat abbreviated role.  (For a heroine-oriented movie, one expected to see Rani with much more screen time.)  Faraaz Khan is competent as the evil husband, and after Prithvi, he once again demonstrates that he makes a better antagonist as opposed to a hero.   Of course, it is Himani Shivpuri and Pramod Moutho who both shine the most as the evil saas and sasur.  For a change, it was nice to see both of them have large roles in a movie.

The film's cinematography is above average, though one certainly cannot say the same for Babul's extremely dull and uninspired songs.  It may sound stupid, but the best melody is a parody, and that too, only because we have not seen many songs from this mocking genre in the recent past.   (However, be forewarned that the parody is picturized on Shakti Kapoor and company.)

As already mentioned, the director and story writer need to work on their story logic and common sense some more.  Aside from needing a crash course in current human rights, the story writer should know that no 'normal' girl would offer to rub soap on the back of her brother-in-law if she saw him bathing out in the open.  The scene may establish Faraaz's lust for Rani's sister, but what psychotic planet do these characters come from?

Indian film-makers need to accept a sense of responsibility towards society and and presenting equality among human beings.   Having recognized that the subservient treatment of females in many South East Asian households is unfair, Hamid Ali Khan should have presented a story conveying that in a marriage without trust, equality, fairness and love, women need not try to make the relationships work.  Tolerating mental or physical abuse is not an acceptable way of living.  Mahesh Bhatt's Arth aptly conveyed the message back in the eighties.  We may be nearing the twenty-first century but Hamid Ali Khan is no Mahesh Bhatt.  Mehndi harks back, in parts, to demonstrating rights and values which were considered bold for the late-eighteenth century.  Too late, too little, Mr. Khan.