Mitr: My Friend (2002) Poster

(2002)

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6/10
Sophomoric acting by co-stars detracts from Shobana'a great performance.
abbott3214 April 2004
Mitr has a pretty good concept, interesting story, and a dynamic performance by Shobana who illuminates the screen whenever she is there which, luckily, is most of the movie. Nasir Abdullah, who plays her husband is OK but everyone else in the film seemed like they got their acting chops from Grade D late night cable TV. The daughter, friends, neighbors, -- everyone else -- gave stilted performances as if they were reading their lines. Fortunately, the daughter's performance got better towards the end of the film but the director should have elicited better performances from everyone unless that was their best and the casting crew would have to take the blame for not finding better actors. I would have preferred the over-acting of a lot of Hindi actors than some of the drivel and inane delivery that permeated this film.

Despite my misgivings of Mitr, I will still give it a 6 because of Shobana's performance and look forward to seeing her in other projects of better quality. Watching Shobana in action is worth enduring the cringe factor that occurs when watching the other actors.
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7/10
Great potential here
hawk-587 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Wish the quality of the film, sound and acting were more consistent. Very distracting when the commercials (on one of our local Asian stations) kick in! I very much enjoyed Sobhana's luminous performance as Lakshmi and could sympathize with her feelings of isolation and frustration.

This movie was filmed in my neighborhood, the Bay Area, and I imagine Lakshmi's feelings are quite common among women in the local Indian community whose husbands hold very demanding high-tech jobs, who are not themselves well-educated or social, and whose children are exhibiting the worst characteristics of spoiled California young adults. Lakshmi did a very brave thing in attempting to become more educated and independent. Too bad it backfired on her because of her husband's jealousy and insecurity.

Unfortunately the actress who played Divya made her very one-note and negative for most of the movie; her performance was very soap opera, which may have been the director's fault rather than hers. It did nothing to generate sympathy for her, and in fact made one more sympathetic toward her mother's character. Not a good thing, as Lakshmi was too judgmental and interfering in her daughter's life. Lakshmi was right, of course - her daughter was too young and immature to live on her own and made the expected terrible decision in choosing her first boyfriend. Maybe Indian mothers haven't caught on to the fact that the surest way to drive a daughter into the arms of the wrong boy is to forbid her from seeing him!

That said, Divya's almost instant transformation from bratty teen to friend and confidante of her mother's was hard to believe. The ending was pretty silly, actually, and I never really figured out who the mysterious Internet presence was. If it was the husband, why didn't he seem to know anything about it and why wasn't he wearing a yellow shirt? It clearly wasn't Steve.........guess I will have to watch again.
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8/10
time... care... love...
shwetaa6 September 2006
Mitr, my friend, gives voice to women, who are lonely and go through what Lakshmi has gone through in this movie. Though it is very unlikely, that woman in U.S. faces such vacuum in her life. It is more appropriate in the countries like India, where it is still expected from woman to stay back at home and look after her family only, where she still considered to be a second citizen.

Only sensitive people can appreciate this movie. Shobhana was superb. Music deserve an applause, Ms. Illayaraja has done a great job, even after so many years, i still enjoys the music of Mitr.

time... care.... love.... the most enchanting words for any happy family, it can actually perform miracle in anybody's life. Hats off to Revathi and her crew.
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Really gives a wonderful insight into traditional women
sarah03mu28 March 2002
Lakshmi, a traditional Indian woman, marries an American-Indian and lives in America with him and their daughter. Both husband and daughter are "American" (i.e., very independent, living for own self) while Lakshmi lives only to please them. Their lack of concern for her leads her to pursue her own life and the other two feel left out and abandoned, instead. I really enjoyed the story, music, and acting. We had the privilege of having the director herself come to present this movie to our university and were permitted to ask questions. She told us that at first, the all-women technical crew was a fluke, until the final member was chosen, when she decided to stick with all females (though would have compromised had an adequate female not been found). To me, the acting was a bit rough at times, and characters and actions seemed misplaced, silly, or over-Americanized. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it as a good cultural pick.
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7/10
Must watch for parents considering bring up children in a foreign culture
rtoac18 December 2023
This is a film made in Bharat but mostly in English. The film is about adjustment crisis in marriage and bringing up children in a foreign country.

This was the directorial debut of acclaimed South Indian actress Revathi and also won Shobana her second National Award after Manichitrathazhu.

Nasser also performs well as the balanced husband, the anchor in the family. The fulcrum of the film though is the daughter played by Preeti Vissa. Such a genuine and excellent portrayal of such a tough role. Preeti plays a daughter being brought up in a foreign land and hence unable to relate to the culture her mother tries to imbibe in her. She hence rebels and faces violent consequences of her mistakes.

Preeti was of the right age and hence I could play it from the heart, apart from her good looks and talent. Honestly, I became a fan and developed a crush on her. It was sorry to see her not appearing in any films after.

The ending of the film is a bit loose and disappointing and hence the drop in ratings and recommendations no doubt. This is otherwise a wake up call and a must watch for parents considering to bring up children in a foreign culture.
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10/10
after a long time we get a good indian movie to watch.
filmislife7 March 2002
Mitr, which is all about alienation an average woman starts feeling when her daughter and lifemate starts blaming her to be orthodox and a nag; and hardly find time to understand her. It also depicts how one forgets to live her own life for relations and a very positive ending marks states that still we can believe in relations.

It's a film which is so much refreshing for all those who got a heart to empathise and understand problems of others.

The same hands that point out the mistakes being commited doesn't go without touching the deeper core of our soul.

cinematography of the film by fowzia is unbelievably merged with the narration and fellings dealt.

Also the music score by bhavatharini needs special mention which simply complements the visualisation and moods.

If films like this are never being appreciated when can india come out of melooodramas and "got all the crap in this" type of films.

Director Revathy and her crew which consists only woman deserves cheers...(but why this gender division? for ads?)

never miss this movie.
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2/10
amateur
snsh30 September 2002
'Mitr' attempts to portray the conflicts experienced by a traditional Indian mother living in the USA. She devotes her life to her family while her teenage daughter and ambitious husband grow increasingly independent.

Far from being a Bollywood production, I felt Mitr is closer to being a a high-school drama caught on film, based on its production quality. The lighting was flat and strange (candlelight dinner on a sunny afternoon?). Every line of dialogue was forced and overdone (clearly the director's decision). The audio was plagued by echo (too distant microphones?). The soundtrack was nonstop georgewinston-ey, with cricket chirps dubbed into the nighttime scenes. Mitr boasts "an all female crew," but the the quality of their work does not reflect well on female professionals in the film industry.

Mitr is partly redeemed by its strong character development, but it's poor production quality is so distracting that I did not enjoy watching it.
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A sweet film
d_m_arnold9 September 2002
Mitr plays like a Seventh Heaven episode, a sweet domestic drama about an Indian mom and dad living in the US whose marriage is in trouble and who have a rebellious teenaged daughter. The film is set in the US and must've been made to appeal to the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) population. It was pitched to me as an exploration of the differences between Indian and US culture, but Lakshmi isn't so much an Indian woman as she is a repressed and overprotective mother (this sort of woman also exists in America as no doubt everywhere in the world), and it's a disservice to blame her attitudes on her cultural background.

Mitr is a very accessible Indian film, being 95% in English, relatively short (~100 minutes) and lacking the elaborate music-video numbers typical for a Bollywood product.

I found it ultimately unsatisfying, primarily because I watch Indian films in order to experience the color of exotic cultures and locales.
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