In the times of 100
million dollar Hollywood films and cheesy jingoistic
pro-violence movies, few things are as thrilling
as watching a well-crafted low budget effort.
Mixed Doubles may never make the cut
as a cult classic and it may not even recover
it’s measly production cost of 45 lacs,
but it holds your attention and the performances
and writing keep you mostly engrossed through
it’s 90 minute roller coaster dramedy.
Rajat Kapoor, who seems to have learnt from his
mistakes of Raghu Romeo and has evolved
considerably as a director, can continue to deny
it in all the interviews till kingdom come, but
the film is about partner-swapping. The
setup is a marriage getting tedious, the conflict
consists of whether a conservative couple should
or shouldn’t (indulge), and the climax and
resolution to do with what happens when they do.
 It
is not a flawless script to be sure. Randomly
inserted Santa Banta jokes, Saurabh Shukla’s
mysterious character Sammy, and some scenes (like
the dinner) that go on for too long take away
from otherwise elegant, funny, situational, and
contemporary writing. For example, the scenes
in their home with Malti and Sunil are very real
and easy to empathize with. But contrived situations
like his faking his sickness go against the grain
of the film. Even the climax, when Sunil is in
the bedroom with Kalpana, the writing seems restrained
and on the fence, unable to choose between slapstick
or being cheerlessly funny in a genuine depiction.
What the film lacks in say, the production design
department (a lot of the film is shot in Kapoor’s
own home), it makes up with good performances
and astute direction (see the economy in the last
shot of the film.) Remarkable sound design (entirely
in post: the film is not shot sync) by Resul Pookutty
and no-nonsense camera work by Rafey Mahmood captures
the mood of the film effectively. Perhaps the
editing could’ve been sharper from the story’s
point of view.
As for the actors, Ranvir Shorey is rather good
as a man with a mid-life crisis. His comic timing,
honed on television, is in good stead. Konkona
Sen Sharma is her usual self, bringing a supple,
underplayed vivaciousness to the screen. Rajat
Kapoor plays it straight, which he is best at,
for it comes with natural ease. Naseeruddin Shah’s
three line cameo is magic. How an actor can lift
a film just with three improvised lines of dialogue
delivery is even beyond conjecture. Disappointing
is Koël Purie. She seems to be getting stereotyped
in her roles and portrays her weakest character
yet.
If nothing else, one should watch this film in
support of independent films made in India. After
all, it’s not the production value; rather,
it’s good scripts, performances and direction
that make a film watch-able. Mixed Doubles
is that sort of film. Not outstanding, but very
watch-able.
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