Mithya Review: Huma Qureshi’s Whodunnit Drama Falls Flat

Mithya: Star Rating:

Cast: Huma Qureshi, Avantika Dassani, Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajit Kapur.

Creator: Goldie Behl & Priya Jhavar.

Director: Rohan Sippy.

Streaming On: Zee5

Language: Hindi (with subtitles).

Runtime: 6 Episodes Around 35 Minutes Each.

Mithya: What’s It About:

A Hindi literature professor Juhi (Huma Qureshi) is trying to deal with the hurdles in her life just when she comes across a student Rhea (Avantika Dassani) who submits a plagiarized assignment. Lesser does Juhi know that Rhea is about to turn her world upside down and that Vendetta is going to cost her everything.

Mithya: What Works:

Mithya is an official adaptation of the British show Cheat. Now I haven’t seen the original, so the review is entirely based on the Indian version. Set in the North Of Indian, Mithya is a story of revenge, thrill and top of all suspense. Adding a name in the whodunnit genre, the show begins on a very spooky note. The fact that it is set in a landscape that does half the job of inducing the chilling element is a smart move.

While I have my share of complaints, the biggest achievement the show manages to achieve is keeping a big secret intact till the end. Now the execution of it does fail, but that is for the latter part of the review. Writers Althea Kaushal and Anvita Dutt (Bulbbul) bring their expertise to the table and create tension.

There is a parallel story of a couple trying to conceive and it does make you hooked to them. Both Huma and Parambrata make you root for them with their performances.

Mithya: Star Performance:

Huma Qureshi with her acting talent and beautiful curls tries her level best to make some sense of this sinking ship. She is the only reason I could sit through the 6 episodes that literally felt like a daily soap opera shot on a high budget.

Parambrata Chatterjee does an impressive job in his limited screen presence and becomes a very pivotal part to the story.

Avantika Dassani has a lot to learn. Given the most complex part of the entire show, she doesn’t really bring out the entire angst as one would expect. She continues to have the same expression from scene one. This could also be a brief given to her for keeping the mystery intact but not the correct decision.

Mithya: What Doesn’t Work:

The whodunnit genre is not new. The Bhatt’s and Sippy’s have been trying their level best to ace it. Rohan Sippy gets back to direction with Mithya. The writing of the Huma Qureshi starrer doesn’t really sit right. There is always something missing. The purpose for each character is so paper thin and the revelation of bigger things created no impact on me.

Why would a student be so revengeful, and what are odds that she might just have some personal vendetta against the professor. If you telling me she has been planning this for years, she has clearly not planned enough. There are so many question. Why is a professor lured by his wife’s student so easily? Also, why isn’t anyone from Rhea’s family bothered or informed about her doing when she comes from such an influential background? Why on Earth would a man carry out a sting operation and tell his subject about it right there? Why does a Rhea has ‘Spaced Out’ written in block letters on her laptop, and she is spacing out in that scene?

The show takes many lazy turns. The way the murder is played by the end of every episode dilutes the entire purpose. The music is less thrilling and more horror show inspired. It gets into philosophy of Mithya (untruth) too but never explored enough that you connect the happenings to it.

Mithya: What Doesn’t Work:

Mithya is stretched and the makers do not take extra efforts to make it look crisp. Baring a very few good things, the show doesn’t have much to offer.

Must Read: Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein Review: Tahir Raj Bhasin & Shweta Tripathi Starrer Is An Unsettling Poetry Of Love, Lust & Power With A Shakespearean Soul

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