Landmarc Films’ Medium Spicy (Marathi; UA) is the story of a young man who is scared of commitment. Nissim Tipnis (Lalit Prabhakar) likes his colleague, Prajakta Abhyankar (Parna Pethe), but is unable to express his feelings despite knowing that she too loves him. Likewise, Prajakta also never reveals her love for him. In fact, Prajakta’s marriage is fixed with someone else. Nissim also loves Gowri (Sai Tamhankar) who is his senior. Does he muster the courage to propose to Gowri? Does Gowri accept Nissim’s proposal?
Irawati Karnik’s story doesn’t really take the audience anywhere. Why Nissim is commitment-phobic is not explained. Her screenplay is also dull. Although there’s a track of Nissim’s paternal aunt, its connection with his own love story is simply not established. The only plus point about the screenplay is that it reflects the thought process of today’s generation but at the end of the day, it is not clear to the viewer as to what leads to what, and why. Irawati Karnik’s dialogues are alright.
Lalit Prabhakar performs well as Nissim Tipnis. Sai Tamhankar is good in the role of the carefree and happy-go-lucky Gowri. Parna Pethe is okay as Prajakta Abhyankar. Ravindra Mankani is average as Sharad Tipnis. Neena Kulkarni makes a fine mark as Nissim’s mother. Sagar Deshmukh is okay as Nissim’s colleague, Shubhankar Sarawate. Neha Joshi makes a fair mark as Nissim’s sister, Shalaka. Pushkraj Chirputkar has his moments in a brief role as Nissim’s brother-in-law. Arundhati Nag (as Nissim’s paternal aunt) and Ipshitaa Chakraborty Singh (as Shubhankar’s wife) provide routine support. Radhika Apte lends star value in the solitary scene in which she appears as Gargi.
Mohit Takalkar’s direction is quite alright but he has not been able to convey what the film is trying to say. Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj’s music is ordinary. Jitendra Joshi’s lyrics are better than the music. Saurabh Bhalerao’s background music is fair. Cinematography (Raghav Ramadoss and Rahul Chauhan) is okay. Ashish Mehta’s production designing and Ranjeet Desai’s art direction are of standard. Mohit Takalkar’s editing is loose.
On the whole, Medium Spicy is too ordinary and frivolous to make a mark.
Released on 17-6-’22 at Glamour (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity & opening: dull.