Rahul Desai
Around thirty minutes into Mr. & Mrs. Mahi, a failed cricketer (Rajkummar Rao) discovers that his wife (Janhvi Kapoor) is a die-hard cricket fan. It’s their wedding night, and she made an excuse to sleep early so that she could secretly wake up to watch India play in Australia.
An Indian husband struggling to relegate his ego to the background translates into a former player struggling to be a selfless coach. An Indian wife hesitating to realize her agency translates into a female cricketer striving to realize her talent.
Imagine a culturally adapted version of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, but where the lust-triangle-tennis metaphor is instead an arranged-marriage-cricket metaphor. Its gender commentary is embedded in the lexicon of the sport.
The screenplay contextualizes that dependence and, for a change, suggests that there’s no shame in needing the other person. There’s no shame in building a partnership; it’s more plausible than winning the match single-handedly.
The authority figures in the film are an issue, too. I get that having unreasonable adults makes the conflict-resolution process smoother, but it’s odd to see actors like Kumud Mishra and Rajesh Sharma reduced to a single note.
That’s not to say Mr. & Mrs. Mahi is flawless. Sharma commits to the volume, but the rhythm is a bit automated. The broad strokes are part of its language. The character transformations, for example, are too clean-cut.