Director: Raghava Murali
Cast: Sharmiela Mandre, Dharma Keerthiraj
Rating: 1 star
We already have so many stars, but we now have a new star - Cadbury star! Yes the actor Dharma Keerthiraj is introduced in the title card as Cadbury Star in Mumtaz directed by the debutant Raghava Murali. Well, speaking on record there is no literal meaning to Cadbury, as it simple refers to the British multinational confectionery company. Jokes apart - Mumtaz is a different love story with so much difference that the director has spent most of his time zooming in on the face of the hero, capturing the minutest emotions which unfortunately stop only at the end!
Wondering what inspired the director to come out with this tale, remains a mystery as Mumtaz is about a guy who is madly in love with a girl since his school days. That’s it! This one is such a killer that easily beats the weirdest of all so called ‘one-way’ love stories. The story unravels with a school play on Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, no guesses on who plays who. The love sprouts, and next the scene shifts from adolescent age to teenage. The boy follows her to college, but never succeeds in expressing his love. The director’s talent in depicting the hardest ever proposal on big screen is ‘truly’ commendable. The only motto of the protagonist is to attempt making his proposals and Sharmiela Mandre’s is to look and talk pretty. The supporting characters have no role to play and the director has ‘heavily’ relied upon the close up shots of the hero and heroine all the time. A bus stop, college campus, a temple are literally the few locations that apart from the ‘dream’ songs. Even the cameo appearance by Darshan fails to give a boost to the super-slow love story. Will the hero finally express his love before it’s too late? If still willing to watch, then go before Mumtaz disappears from your nearby screens. However, this one could help those who are suffering from sleep disorders, as it proposes a sound sleep without fail.
