REVIEW: Mithya is a tragicomedy

There are always those films that leave a strange aftertaste. You are aware that the concept is not original. Yet you come out of the theatre saying, "Hey, it's not so bad!" Mithya is one such film.

Not exactly an original

Starring Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Naseeruddin Shah, Saurabh Shukla, Neha Dhupia and Harsh Chhaya among others, Mithya's concept is lifted from a German movie called Didi Der Doppelganger.

Unlike Mithya though, the German movie is an out and out comedy starring comedian Dieter Hallervorden. In the German original the owner of a rundown pub steps into the shoes of his look-alike, a heartless CEO thanks to a kidnapping plot.

As time passes, the pub owner begins to get better and better at his job and becomes a much more loved person than the CEO. [DON'T MISS: The Mithya promo]

The plot

In Mithya a struggling actor VK, (Ranvir Shorey) manages to find himself in the midst of a simmering gang war. VK is a splitting image of underworld don, Raje. Unknown to him, Raje's rival Gawde (Naseer), is tracking his movements and one fine day kidnaps and starts training him to become the don. [READ: Rajat Kapoor's wish list for Mithya]

The plan according to Gawde is simple – kill Raje and put VK in his place. But the unwitting (and unwilling) hero of this plot manages to mess things up so badly that no one including he is able to stop the ball that has started rolling.

Ranvir Shorey, the tragicomic hero

One of Ranvir's best performances to this date is his role of a 45-year-old amnesiac in a play called The Blue Mug. Even as the entire stage is in splits laughing at his antics, Ranivr continues to keep a face that expresses the character's inner angst. It is only much after the laughs have died out that the tragic expression clutches your heart.

Here too Ranvir delivers a similar performance. VK's life goes into a tizzy after he steps into Raje's shoes. But when as Raje, he loses his memory, everything around him seems like a blur. Nothing is the same anymore and VK's identity becomes a 'mithya' (a lie).

IN PICS: Neha Dhupia and co at the film's promotion bash