‘Mr and Mrs Mahi’ review: Another unremarkable cricket film

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Srikanth felt half-hearted coming from an actor who's always relished playing absolute pieces of shit. Now there's another Rao film out, and here too he has a heel turn. But this one is more sustained, and Rao commits to it fully.

This doesn't mean we don't see it coming from a mile out. Mr and Mrs Mahi might look like a sports film, but it's itching to be Abhimaan.The first inkling is when Mahima (Janhvi Kapoor) is whacking club bowlers for six after six. She's only identified as a crazy fan before this, so it's the first time her husband, Mahendra (Rao), is seeing her play.

He's visibly thrilled and proud—but you can also sense the film tossing out hints. As Mahima is flaying the bowlers, the music picks up, an ominous thrum. There's pure joy on her face, whereas her husband is giving a look that, if you've watched Rao enough, you'll recognize as bad news.Mahendra is a failed cricketer, a club-level batter who'd like to think he was one miscued shot away from impressing state selectors, though in reality he probably wouldn't have lasted at that level.

He's the sourest of early retirees, just about holding down a job in his father's sporting goods store. Not that it's a stimulating work environment; Hardayal, played by a blustery Kumud Mishra, yells constantly and calls him a 'defective piece'.Into Mahendra's disappointing life comes Mahima, a topper, a doctor. She's accomplished as he is ordinary, but she likes him anyway and they're soon married.

They find out they're both cricket-crazy after a chaste first night as a couple—the first clinch of love comes, as these things do, after a particularly spicy Ishant Sharma delivery the next morning. They settle into a reasonably happy domestic life. This could be a neat film