Sometimes, even poorly written stories make films worth watching. You know why? Because directors go beyond the script to present a story that the script couldn’t do justice to. To understand what I am trying to say, watch the behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage of Korean dramas. They discuss and try different versions of the same scene on the set. Now, the writer obviously won’t write each and every scene ten times and then ask the director and actors to see what works while shooting. It’s the director’s job to bring their vision to life and give the script a treatment that turns it into a film worth watching.
The story of Meethe Mein Kya Hai, first of all, is weak. On top of it, it feels like what’s written in the script has been blindly followed and performed, scene by scene. There is no character development beyond that. Since Radhika Bansal is both the writer and director, this ideally shouldn’t have happened.
To add to it, there is no chemistry between the actors. I am sure this mustn’t be true, but as a viewer, watching the film unfold, I feel like these actors come together only to perform their scenes. Otherwise, they did not even speak to each other. I couldn’t feel any real bonding or connection between them or their characters. To give you another example, watch Gullak, the Indonesian film I recently wrote about, A Brother and 7 Siblings, the K-drama Welcome to Samdal-ri, or even Dil Dhadakne Do. Despite having so many characters and their lives intertwined, these stories were told so effortlessly and with so much ease that the characters became real for the audience.
Since this is a family drama where a lot of people come together, each bringing their own baggage, I would like to talk about Dil Dhadakne Do here. It had complex characters and complicated stories, but look at how well everything was brought together—in the director’s mind, in the actors’ performances, and for the audience. I missed that ease and that flow in Meethe Mein Kya Hai.
This could have been the Diwali hit that people used to go to theatres for during the festive season, but the makers missed a golden opportunity.
P.S. Ritwik Bhowmik’s character has the same storyline as Vikrant Massey’s character in Season 1 of Broken But Beautiful. Speaking of Ritwik, he should start making his characters and performances look different from his Bandish Bandit character now. That stiffness in his movements and performances is starting to look awkward now.
Language: Hindi
Where to Watch? Netflix
