Review: 'Mod' is not just another love story!

Film: Mod
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Cast: Ayesha Takia Azmi, Rannvijay Singh, Raghuveer Yadav, Tanvi Azmi
Rating: ***

The story is set in a picturesque small-town (beautifully captured too, full marks for cinematography there), where Ananya (Ayesha) seems to be living a content life — though not completely a happy one — with her father (Raghuveer) and aunt (Tanvi). It’s a small world for Ananya as she repairs watches in the morning and helps her aunt with her restaurant later in the day, when not waiting with her father for her mum to return home that is.

The wait is not for the mother, but for her father’s wife, she lets her dad know early on, as she has already learnt to live without her. Mod literally means a turn and Ananya’s world turns around when Andy (Rannvijay) lands up one day to get his watch repaired. Love blossoms, until there’s a twist in the tale and a secret is revealed.

The film feels straight out of a book of short stories and has a certain old world charm. The downside is that everything is too picture perfect here, and things just fall into place rather conveniently towards the end. The music doesn’t help much. The slow pace especially in the first half drags on forever, even though thankfully Ayesha’s cutesy act won’t let you complain too much.

The second half however has some interesting twists to offer. Once bitten twice shy seems to be the case with Kukunoor who plays it rather safe this time around and once again you can see the sparks of the old director who once gave Iqbal and Dor. He skims through the emotions beautifully, giving audience the time to soak them all in. It’s quite a pleasant change from the instant fast-paced love stories we are subjected to these days.

The film clearly belongs to Ayesha and Rannvijay is impressive as well. The chemistry though not crackling, is convincing for sure. The rest of the cast do a good job as well. Overall, it’s a sweet romantic film you’d enjoy watching with your date.