Mithya

Struggling actor, trying to hack it in Mumbai. Sneaking into film sets. Getting to hold glasses of congealing chai for directors who have no time for him. Storming out of a recording studio, starving. Staring out at the sea, late in the night, swigging from a cheap whisky quarter, which comes with a free glass.

There have been a million portraits of an-actor-as-a-struggling-actor, but very few have dived into it with such veracity. Rajat Kapoor builds up VK (Ranvir) — one of those million faceless aspirants, looking in on the glamorous world of movies, while showing its seamier undersides — with deft, sure strokes. And then leaves him to flounder.

The rich, dark comic potential of a plot which plucks VK from his scrounging-for-bit-parts life into a vortex of death and destruction is realised, but is not mined completely: the film’s swings between satya, and mithya create hilarity and menace in equal parts, something Kapoor excels at, but also propels it into uneasy in-between zones, where you are left waiting for the next smart move.

But there are enough gorgeous moments to keep you going: the flashes of tributes to the gangster classics that come and go, VK’s superb rendition of Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, the casual banter between the goons — one calls himself Inspector Ram, the other is Inspector Shyam, a fat Punjabi matron more bothered about what’s on her table rather than who’s getting shot in her house, a mob boss getting his peds polished. And except for Naseerudin, who’s strangely minus impact — there’s something called being too detached — everyone else is right inside their roles, especially Ranvir, who is turning out to be one of the best actors we have working in Hindi cinema right now. As well as Vinay Pathak and Saurabh Shukla, and Iravati Harshe, in a felt cameo.

This is mostly Rajat Kapoor’s gang, good buddies all, and you can see that fun has been had in making the film. But Mithya is content to remain a spoof on the current mix du jou — movies and mobsters — without going to the next level. From this director, one of the most intelligent in the business, you expect more.