'Mili' review: Janhvi Kapoor delivers a fine performance in this survival thriller

When Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in 'Dhadak' most were quick to write her off as yet another star kid. That was in 2018. In the last 4 years Kapoor has managed to impress her critics with some solid performances and prove many of them wrong. In her latest 'Mili', she carries the story on her able shoulders well making the film an engaging watch.

Director Mathukutty Xavier adapts his 2019 Malayalam survival thriller 'Helen' for the north Indian Hindi-speaking audience and remains true to the original mostly, delivering a compelling story of survival in an unprecedented situation.

Kapoor plays Mili, a young girl working in a fast-food restaurant at an upscale mall in Dehradun. She is set to go to Canada for higher studies and better life in a few months - something that both her father (Manoj Pahwa) and boyfriend Sameer (Sunny Kaushal) are not happy with. Both men are important in Mili's life and when the father unwarrantedly learns about his daughter's relationship, he is not happy. All hell breaks loose when Mili goes missing one night.

Trapped in the cold storage of the restaurant she works, Mili finds her cries for help vanishing in the dead of the night. The restaurant is located in a mall, which has shut for the night and so has the eatery. As the temperature inside the fridge goes in sub-zero temperature, Mili has to fight hard to survive until the next morning when the mall starts operating. But will she be able to survive the night?

Survival thrillers are difficult to write and perform. In the case of 'Mili' writer, Ritesh Shah writes a deeply engaging screenplay that keeps the audience hooked to the film to a great extent. There is a sense of uncertainty, about how would Mili survive in the cold, and would her father and lover be able to find her at the right time.

While the film centers around Mili, it also has some interesting male characters. Mili is close to both her dad and father, who till the fateful night have never interacted. The two men, initially clash, out of concern for the same person but later come together to look for her in the city while it is asleep.

There is also a misogynist, reckless cop (Anurag Arora) who is quick to pass judgment on women who are out late into the night. At first, he is reluctant to file an FIR and quick to assume that the girl must be with her lover, and then quick to accuse the boyfriend of hiding her from the family. He only stops when a senior cop (Sanjay Suri in a film after ages) intervenes. The senior cop ultimately joins the search party and flexes some muscles to get things moving.

'Mili' rests on Kapoor's able shoulders who puts in an earnest performance as the strong-willed girl who doesn't give up easily in life. Be it attempting the EILTS exam for the third time or surviving and giving refuge to a rodent inside a locked freezer, trying to figure her way out. As an actor, the role must have been challenging as most of her scenes were within the confines of limited space without any dialogue or a co-artist. She delivers her part well.

The film though slackens at certain parts. By the second half, some of the scenes feel repetitive a bit. Edited by Monisha Baldava, the film's second half could have been slightly tighter in terms of shots and narrative. Also, Kapoor and Kaushal's chemistry appears flat and not entirely explored on screen.

Despite these minor dents in the fim, 'Mili' much like its original 'Helen' is an engaging watch. It keeps you hooked mostly and has commendable performances by its actors especially, Janhvi Kapoor who is the star of this show.