Mithya
RATING
Introduction
We are finally at the weekend and it brings to us quite a few new releases and it includes two webseries. And I have finally finished watching one of them – Mithya on Zee5. While I did not watch its trailer, its poster was quite intriguing. On top of it, the series had Huma Qureshi whom I highly rate as an actor. It seemed like a right amalgamation of a thriller and a psychological drama. That said is Mithya worth your time, stay tuned.
Story & Screenplay
An official adaptation of the British series Cheat, Mithya follows the story of a hindi teacher accusing her student of plagiarism until the student decides to get even. What follows is a dangerous cat and mouse game! The story is quite good and has enough thrills for a psychological drama. The screenplay begins on a slow note. The buildup takes a little while to gather steam as you are introduced to the characters and the dynamics which they share. But the good bit is that this is a mini series comprising of just 6 episodes of roughly 30 minutes each. So the drama does not linger on for a lot of time. The mysterious game begins with a shocking twist at the end of episode one. The characterisation of the two main protagonists is very well penned. The mysterious plot gets darker with every passing episode. One small complaint which I had was that the drama could have been slightly more layered by exploring the trajectory of other characters as well. That would really have made this already twisty plot even more twisted. But the sequences written are interesting and unique although not entirely unpredictable, which will keep you hooked and booked throughout. The drama ends in a shocking(but predictable) final act which did have my attention. The typical open end paves its way for season 2 which I would definitely be interested in. Overall, a well written screenplay.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are interesting and definitely leave an impact. The BGM is decent as is the cinematography. The tightly edited scenes are the icing on the cake. Director Rohan Sippy does a commendable job in maintaining the thrill element throughout despite the drama being largely predictable. Overall, a good job done in the direction department.
Performances
The performances are pretty good. Rushad Rana as Vikas, Samir Soni as Rajguru, Avantika Akerkar as Sudha, Charu Shankar as Deepali and Swagata Das all have their moments to shine. Indraneil Sengupta is firat rate in an underwritten role. Naina Sareen as Sharmishtha is such a natural onscreen. Krishna Singh Bisht as Arun is excellent in a mysterious character. Bishaka Thapa as Sunanda has a good screen presence and she does a good job here. KC Shankar as Ajeet is pretty good as well. Rajit Kapur as Anand is brilliant and he does full justice to his character. Parambrata Chattopadhyay as Neil is outstanding in a character which is totally different from any of his other roles which he has portrated. In her debut outing Avantika Dassani impresses as Rhea. She does a commendable job here. But the series rests on the strong shoulders of Huma Qureshi who is quite brilliant as Juhi. With a magnetic screen presence and a sense of being effortless in front of the camera, she delivers a memorable performance.
Conclusion
Although fairly predictable, Mithya is a very interesting and a unique thriller which is worth your time. Available on Zee5.