Ramesh Sippy once made Sholay. He also made Andaaz and Seeta Aur Geeta. All three are landmarks in the great Hema Malini’s career. I was waiting for the long-delayed Shimla Mirchi, not only because it marks the return of Ramesh Sippy to direction after 24years (his last directorial Zamana Deewana was released in 1995) but also because it re-unites the gorgeous Hema Malini with Sippy.
The trailer gives the entire plot away, piece by piece. Rajkummar Rao, returning to the screen after his stupendous but undermined performance in Made In China, is a man shy of expressing his love to Rakul Preet Singh (whose clothes and makeup look a wee over-the-top). So he writes a love letter (yes, in today’s day and age, even keeping in mind the film’s 5-year delay in release, it’s hard to believe) to his object of adoration. But it falls into Rakul’s mother’s hand.
This begins the courtship game of errors, where one can see the divine Malini struggling to find her comic core.
It is extremely brave of her to take on a role way removed from her comfort zone. I mean, if you can believe that the Dream Girl (the original, not Ayushmann Khurrnana) can run after Rajkummar Rao then you can believe anything.
Shimla Mirchi marks a departure for Hema Malini from her image of the unattainable beauty. It is set in the quaint scenic town of Shimla and was shot there. The smalltown ambience of gossip giggles and shock at unconventional feelings is well conveyed in the trailer. While Hema Malini followed by Raj Kummar Rao make a curious unlikely pair, the director Ramesh Sippy’s wife Kiran Joneja shows up as a meddlesome Bua advising Rao to “show some balls.”
That’s what Shimla Mirchi seems to be doing. It seems like a ballsy concept with the legendary Hema Malini desperately seeking a suitor. It’s like Deepika Padukone playing a disfigured acid victim.