Monday, February 20, 2006

Mixed Doubles (3B-Breaking Bedroom Boredom)





no,it was not a mahesh bhupati and martina hingis or a sania mirza and liezel huber tennis match.it was a movie we saw yesterday.'mixed doubles'.a satire on spousal friction.produced by rajat kapoor,it is a low budget movie and off the beaten track.it is an a-moral tale.of sexual boredom.like milon kundera, rajat deals with sex with humour and poignancy.there are many out there who suffer from a similar problem.

it is about a married couple,sunil and malti married for 10 years with a kid.the guy finds that the thought of having sex with his wife doesn't excite him any more and he learns from an office colleague that partners can be swapped.he feverishly surfs the internet and tries to meet willing couples who want to have such an arrangement.the movie is a funny sex comedy and konkona sensharma steals the show with her portrayal as the sexually frustrated husband's innocent and loving wife.she is eventually dragged into meeting a couple-rajat and koel puri but then nothing really happens.there is no sex during the swap.they return minus the adventure and back to their normal lives.

dialogues by anurag kashyap are witty and sharp.ranvir shorey as the boredom afflicted husband does a good job.small time actor vinay pathak as the office colleague who advises sunil to to try spouse swapping acts very well particularly the scene when he cries after his wife deserts him.both koel puri as the wife of rajat kapoor and rajat who form the spouse swapping couple put in natural performances.naseeruddin shah has a cameo role as the father of malti.cinematography by rafi mohammed is excellent.

does rajat kapoor convey any message? i don't think so.he has left it to the viewers to decide what they want to do with their sex lives.boredom creeping into a married life is inevitable.but then how does one counter that and keep the marriage alive and kicking? that is what married couples should contemplate upon.modern urban life puts pressure on both the husband and wife.they have their own careers and priorities.sex has to find an important place in their lives to keep them glued.otherwise their marriage will drift and a breakup would be on the cards. he is not even remotely suggesting spouse swapping to get over the sexual boredom.he addresses a genuine issue and the conflict when sex is no more the driving force for young couples.

4 comments:

lulu said...

great review, appa. i am curious to se ethe movie now. i can't believe my dad is writing about a movie on sex!!!!! very cool :)

gs said...

thanks lulu.we are also breaking weekend boredom by seeing movies! remember,i hardly use to see movies.our next will be 'pride and prejudice'.maybe you can see 'mixed doubles' when you come to india.

rums said...

uncle i suppose she will watch it in london itself, it's anyway a mini india in parts :)
i wanted to watch the film as well. i watched 15 park avenue recently, it was ok.
but isn't it a lovely thing that so many young people are comig forward to make films that reflect the changes in indian society, esp the urban one?

gs said...

yes,london is a mini india.lulu could see it there itself perhaps.i think it is a great and most welcome change.i hate these typical hindi movies with almost similar storylines.with proper selection of subjects even low budget movies could become commercial successes.take iqbal for example.or mere dost.i missed 15 park avenue.we bought the tickets but i had to rush off for an urgent meeting and only s went to see it.she liked it.