Mishan Impossible Movie Review: Taapsee's restrained performance is a plus in this failed mission
Mishan Impossible works in parts because you care for the boys. Their performances are authentic as is their innocence
Packed with humor and made with the intention to entertain audiences, Mishan Impossible is a crime comedy with a run-of-the-mill story. Yet with sharp performances of three boys, the Swaroop RSJ directorial is arguably more engaging than recent films belonging to this genre. Yet this film suffers from the very same thing that plagued all the other films — clumsy writing.
Harsh Roshan, Bhanu Prakash, and Jayatheerta Molugu play Raghupati, Raghava, and Rajaram. These three boys from a small village in Chittoor want to become famous and rich someday. Each of them harbours different aspirations — Raghupati admires Ram Gopal Varma and wants to become a film director, Raghava wants to participate in a Television game show, and Rajaram wants to represent the Indian cricket team as a fierce fast bowler. Together, they hatch a plan to run away to Bombay to nab India's most-wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and earn the Rs 50 lakh reward on him. Adding to this strange cocktail of characters is Sailaja (Taapsee Pannu), an investigative journalist, who is racing time to bring down a notorious businessman Ram Shetty (Hareesh Peradi). What happens next and will they be successful in accomplishing their missions forms the crux of Mishan Impossible.
Cast: Harsh Roshan, Bhanu Prakash, Jayatheerta Molugu, Taapsee Pannu
Director: Swaroop RSJ
The idea of setting up a crime story with Taapsee and the boys has a fresh tinge to it. Their characters are well established with each one coming with their own perspective. It all adds up well in the first hour, as Swaroop's script offers plenty of catchy moments for these characters to shine. Deepak Yeragara's cinematography becomes a character in itself too, as the plot moves from one place to another.
And what happens next? Not much! We have seen way too many films lately suffering from what you may refer to as the 'second-half syndrome'. These are all sincere efforts that try to narrate an exciting story before losing the plot. Mishan Impossible is overwhelmingly burdened by this problem. A good first half whets your hunger for an engaging entertainer, only to lead into a post-interval that hardly sees any plot movement. It’s almost like the first and the second half are two different films. You might predict the end of this movie much before it arrives, and it leaves you with a ‘sinking feeling’.
The film has a fascinating premise and an unlikely character for Taapsee. To be honest, she submits to it, delivering a quiet and restrained performance. But the film can't decide what it wants to be — a melancholic crime comedy or a vigilante thriller with chases. Although Swaroop tries to give a deeper subtext to the crime story through the three boys, it seems disjointed when viewed as a whole and his exciting idea doesn’t quite come to fruition.
He has taken too many cinematic liberties to get out of tricky screenplay situations, and as a result, the film comes off looking way too contrived. How do you explain the scene in which the three brave kids land in Bengaluru assuming it as Bombay? They are intelligent enough to pull off the craziest frauds but didn't even know that Bombay is now Mumbai! Also, they try to find an underworld don, who is no longer living in Mumbai.
Mishan Impossible works in parts because you care for the boys. Their performances are authentic as is their innocence, with which they just hand out and talk, or face off against the baddies. It's impossible not to root for them when they find themselves in grave situations.
The film could have been a thrilling ride on the wild side of humour with such talents at their best — only if the writing and the execution also scaled such heights.
