Shyam Benegal, one of the finest filmmakers, tells the whimsical story of a group of prostitutes struggling against the 'city' who wants to have them thrown out in order to replace their brothel with development projects. 'Mandi' is a splendid comedy comedy. The humour is subtle and dry which is a refreshing change from the usual slapstick witnessed so often in Indian 'masala' films. Plus, they had me laughing out loud. While the film reflects the hypocrisy of society, it doesn't preach to anyone in particular. All the characters, even those with very limited screen time, are interesting. 'Mandi' mainly centres around Rukmini, the madam of the brothel (played by a spellbinding Shabana Azmi), and her 'apprentice' Zeenat (Smita Patil in another riveting performance). The other colourful characters include Tungrus (Rukmini's royal servant - played by a terrific Naseeruddin Shah), the hypocritical superficial social worker from the women's association and her assistant (a hilarious Pankaj Kapur), a horny photographer (a superb Om Puri), a Darvish (the one and only Amrish Puri), a businessman (a great Kulbhushan Kharbanda), a sympathetic businessman with a secret (the dependable Saeed Jaffrey), a deaf novice (a brilliant Sreela Majumdar), a mentally underdeveloped bride-to-be (Ratna Pathak) and many more. The union of all these characters creates the unique story that is 'Mandi'. The writing and dialogues are cleverly done. Given the long running time, 'Mandi' remains entertaining and thought-provoking from start to finish. There's nothing too complex about it. It's a simplistic story and, like with any Benegal film, a worthy cinematic experience except that this time you'll be laughing more than you'd expect.
Review of Mandi
