Mod

Cast: Ayesha Takia Azmi, Rannvijay Singh Singha, Raghubir Yadav, Tanve Azmi, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Ananth Mahadevan

Writer/Director: Nagesh Kukunoor

Producer/s: Sujit Kumar Singh, Elahe Hiptoola

Plot: Mod is a heartfelt, emotional love story between two completely mismatched people.

Aranya (Ayesha Takia Azmi), a “full-of-life” 25 yr old, lives in the sleepy and idyllic hill station, Ganga. The little town is the home of many colourful characters – Ashok Mahadeo (Raghubir Yadav), Aranya’s whacky father who is the head of the local fan club of Kishore Kumar, the fiery Gayatri Garg (Tanve Azmi), “GG”, her aunt, friend, and confidant, who runs a restaurant and is a mother figure to Aranya, chubby Gangaram (Nikhil Ratnaparkhi), the local shopkeeper who harbours feelings for Aranya and Ashok’s music band, the ever present Kishore Bhakts.

Aranya’s mother left to pursue bigger dreams in the city when Aranya was a little girl and both father and daughter hope that one day she will return. They wait dutifully everyday to see if the lone train that passes by their house will bring her back.

Aranya runs a watch repair store, a legacy handed down by her mother to support her father and herself. One day a total stranger, Andy (Rannvijay Singh Singha), lands up at her doorstep to have his watch fixed. He is painfully shy, but keeps returning day after day to have his water logged watch repaired. As payment, he leaves a 100 rupee note in the form of an origami swan. Aranya slowly warms up to this quirky stranger and through a series of meetings and against all odds they fall in love. But who is Andy? Where is he from? And what is his past?

As Aranya discovers the truth about Andy, the film heads to an exciting and emotional climax in the strongest tradition of great love stories.

When love happens, life takes a turn…

Aranya (Ayesha Takia Azmi) falls in love with a guy, Andy (Rannvijay Singh), who introduces himself as her schoolmate. But it turns out that Andy had died some years ago. Who is this guy  then? Find out more in the review of Mod.

Business rating: 1/5 star

Star cast: Ayesha Takia, Rannvijay Singh, Raghuvir Yadav, Tanvi Azmi.

What’s Good: Performances of the actors; the shocking twist about Andy being dead.

What’s Bad: The depressing screenplay; the ordinary  music.

Verdict: Mod will not be able to score at the ticket windows.

Loo break: Not really.

Watch or Not?: Watch it for the acting. And, of course, if you are a fan of Kukunoor films.

Shreya Entertainment and Kukunoor Movies’ Mod is a love story with a difference. Aranya (Ayesha Takia) lives in a hill station with her father (Raghuvir Yadav). She runs a watch repair shop and is amused when a young man, Andy Raymond (Rannvijay Singh), comes daily to her shop to get his wrist watch repaired. He introduces himself as her schoolmate who was in love with her since school days. Aranya also soon falls in love with him.

Strange things start happening. One day, Aranya sees Andy visiting a mental asylum. On another occasion, he fails to recognise her. On probing further, Aranya is shocked to learn that Andy had died some years ago in an unfortunate accident. Then who is this Andy?

It turns out that Andy is actually Abhay, another school friend of hers. Both, Abhay and Andy, used to love Aranya in school and a jealous Abhay had driven Andy to death, something he regretted so much that he had lost his mental balance. After Andy’s death, Abhay has been behaving like Andy and even referring to Andy’s mother as his own mother. His parents have put him in a mental asylum from where he used to run away for some time to be with Aranya. At times, Abhay used to stop behaving like Andy and become his real self.

What happens thereafter? Does Abhay get cured of his illness? What is Aranya’s stand once she gets to know of the truth about Abhay’s split personality?

Mod Review – Script Analysis

The film has a very unusual story  (Nagesh Kukunoor). While the twists and turns in the tale shock the viewer initially, the latter twists don’t have the desired effect, probably because they seem a bit far-fetched. Kukunoor’s screenplay is good but upto a point only. How Abhay manages to hoodwink the doctor everyday remains a mystery. The one-sided love stories of Aranya with Andy and with Abhay during school days have not been established well enough for the latter part of the drama to hold too well. Also, since the film becomes despressing once the truth about Abhay is revealed, it fails to entertain. There’s a difference between a drama being emotional and being depressing – and this drama is depressing rather than emotional. Had it been emotional, it would’ve worked, but it doesn’t work for the audience because it is very depressing. Even the uplifting ending does not have the desired effect because there still remains a lot of sadness in the lives of other characters in the drama. Dialogues are appropriate.

Mod Review – Star Performances

Ayesha Takia plays Aranya witha rare understanding. She does the fullest justice to her role and shines. Rannvijay Singh goes through his difficult role with alarming ease. He is splendid. Raghuvir Yadav acts with aplomb. He is wonderfully natural. Tanvi Azmi is also lovely as Aranya’s paternal aunt. Ananth Madadevan is good as the psychiatrist. Nikhil Ratnaparkhi is average. Prateeksha Lonkar, Rushad Rana and Usha Bachani provide able support. Others do fair jobs.

Mod Review – Direction & Music

Nagesh Kukunoor has handled the sensitive drama with a lot of understanding. But he is able to do little about the depressing impact of the story on the audience. Tapas Relia’s music is alright. The songs sound fair in the film but don’t have disc value. Mir Ali Husain’s lyrics are okay. Background score (Tapas Relia) is effective. Charintan Das uses his camera effectively to capture the scenic locales as well as the emotions of the characters. Editing by Sanjib Datta is sharp.

Mod Review – Komal Nahta’s Verdict

On the whole, Mod may win critical acclaim but it will remain a dull fare at the box-office, its poor initial and the dull pre-Diwali days only adding to its problems.

Mod Trailer

Komal Nahta, the Editor of Koimoi.com, is Bollywood’s most trusted trade analyst & film reviewer. You can follow him on Twitter and check out his Video Blog.