Rumours about Prabhas dating Kriti Sanon have been rife since 2021. (Photo: Prabhas/Instagram)Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi’s surrogacy drama Mimi is live on Netflix and Jio Cinema, the film’s team announced during an Instagram interaction on Monday evening. The film was supposed to release on July 30. However, in honour of lead star Kriti’s birthday on July 27, the movie started streaming on OTT platforms from 6:30 pm on Monday.
Earlier, during an interaction with indianexpress.com, director Laxman Utekar had stated that Mimi does not attempt to break any taboo as it is just a humorous and emotional tale of two mothers. “This film is an emotional journey of two mothers and Bhanu. We are not trying to break any taboo. It is a tale told very humorously. But it does explain surrogacy in a basic language,” the director told indianexpress.com.
Kriti Sanon plays a surrogate mother in Mimi. Talking about the prep for her role, Kriti said, “I divided the film into two parts – A happy schedule and a sad schedule. The first schedule was easier because the only thing I had to do was pick up the accent and mannerism but in the second schedule, I had to put on 15 kilos to look pregnant from the face. Not exercising at all, stuffing myself even when I was not hungry and eating all sorts of oily food made me nauseous. That was a bit of a journey.”
On the Mimi star's birthday, take a quick look at this outsider's journey, who marked her presence in Bollywood despite having no 'filmy' connections. CLICK HERE.
"I come from a small town in Maharashtra. I am a son of a farmer. So, I think I can relate to what happens in a lower-middle-class family. I don’t know how a person living in Bandra or Juhu will react to a situation but I sure know how a person in Nasik will react. That is my observation and comfort. I would rather express or try to make people laugh through an emotion that I know of or can understand. That is how I look at the genre,” Utekar told indianexpress.com.
Malaika Arora posted a picture in which a happy Kriti Sanon, Arjun Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao posed with her. Malaika shared the picture to wish Kriti on her birthday.
Tiger Shroff wished Kriti Sanon on her birthday. He wrote, "Wish you the best of health and happinness. See you at work soon." The two are all set to share the screen in Vikas Bahl's Ganapath.
Kriti Sanon opened up on her bond with her Mimi co-star Pankaj Tripathi. “When I was working on Bareilly Ki Barfi, in my first scene with him, I was a little hesitant and scared because all of a sudden I was surrounded by him, Seema Pahwa ma’am and so many stalwarts. And this was a film that was away from my zone and was in this new world. But humari tuning baith gayi thi. Even in that film, we didn’t have many dialogues but even sharing a glance was enough for us and the audience to understand what are the characters talking about. So, it is then (in that film) when I found my comfort with him as an actor. I felt I could be free and perform without any pressure," she said.
Prabhas is all praise for Adipurush co-star Kriti Sanon. Wishing the actor, Prabhas wrote, "What you bring to the sets of #Adipurush is so precious!"
Kriti Sanon, who celebrates birthday today, received wishes from Kareena Kapoor Khan. The actor shared picture of Mimi actor on her Instagram stories with "Happy birthday to the lovely Kriti" written over it.
In a behind-the-scenes video, Kriti Sanon introduces her Mimi family.
Evelyn Edwards, who plays a pivotal role in Mimi, shared a selfie of herself with Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi. The actor wrote, "#Mimi is out NOW on @NetflixIndia! So so honored and grateful to have been a part of this beautiful film!"
Pankaj Tripathi, who plays Bhanu in Kriti Sanon's Mimi, spoke about how a comedy film can put across a message in much easier manner.
“Your mental calmness increases when you watch a comedy film. In that space, when the filmmaker is trying to put across a poignant statement or message, it creates a lasting impression. Films are a strong medium, why waste it only on entertainment. If you can convey a message in a this way then why not?” Pankaj said in an interview with indianexpress.com.
Mimi director Laxman Utekar confessed that Bhanu was written keeping Pankaj in mind. “Before even getting started with the script, we were sure Bhanu will be played by Pankaj sir. The dialogues were written keeping Pankaj sir in mind,” the director told indianexpress.com.
Adipurush director Om Raut tweeted a BTS picture of himself with Kriti Sanon. "Here's to sharing many more conversations and laughs together. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday @kritisanon," he wrote via Twitter.
Producer Sajid Nadiadwala, who launched Kriti Sanon with Heropanti, expressed how proud he is of the actor's growth. In a tweet, he mentioned, "Your performances & growth from #Heropanti to #Mimi just makes me smile & I’m so proud of you each day! Party popper Wishing you all the success & waiting to see you touch more milestones!" In response to the tweet, Kriti wrote, "Thank you so much Sajid sir!! Sparkling heart validation from you means alot!! Love you."
Pankaj Tripathi told indianexpress.com that his life experiences have helped him to create characters like Mimi's Bhanu. “Duniya me bohot saare logo se mile hai, aisi paristhiti me rahe hai (I have met many people, I have lived in many situations). I have seen that world. So, it is all an experience of life. Life taught me a lot. So, it all comes from the learnings,” Tripathi said.
Kriti Sanon believes a role like Mimi can be liberating for an actor. "It (role like Mimi) helps you explore many more emotions than what you get to do in other films with less screen time. Mimi is a chirpy, quirky character whose life turns around later. There's so much graph to her character. That is liberating as an actor for me," the actor told FirstPost.
"#Mimi is undoubtedly the best film of 2021. It also exhibits a beautiful message about several society taboos.. If it had a theatrical release it would’ve been a & 120-150 cr grosser due to audience word of mouth. Watch the film with your entire family. Highly Recommended!" a tweet from trade analyst Sumi Kadel read.
Trade analyst Sumit Kadel called Mimi a 'wonderful, emotional and hilarious' experience. "WONDERFUL-EMOTIONAL- HILARIOUS. These 3 words describes the extraordinary journey of #Mimi. Brilliantly directed & written by #LaxamUtekar. @kritisanon delivers an award winning act,excels in both comedy & emotional scenes, @TripathiiPankaj is PHENOMENAL."
Film critic Rohit Jaiswal tweeted, "#Mimi is probably the best film of #KritiSanon… Outstanding, amazing, fantastic…Any film that can make you laugh, worry,cry & most important makes you feel exactly what the characters in film are going through is undoubtedly a Mammoth success."
A Twitter user, @CharanH18, was all praise for Mimi. In a tweet, he mentioned, "Watched the #Mimi film It's super Filled with Hilarious and emotions #KritiSanon #paramasundari Super actress and favourite actress u have nailed the Film. As usually #pankajtripathi sir u are nailed it."
"Female-led films are usually expected to be serious, I don't know why, I don't understand it. When the team was coming up with the tagline, 'It's nothing like what you are expecting,' it came from the fact that we were hearing a lot of things people felt Mimi' was," Kriti Sanon told PTI. "Someone told me OTT platform is good for this kind of a film. I figured later that they thought it's a female-led film so it will be an art (house) film, that it will be an intense movie because it is based on surrogacy," she added.
Kriti Sanon, who has played a quintessential Bollywood heroine in her previous films, said she was craving to do a film like Mimi "where I had a lot more to do, where I felt challenged as an actor. I was looking for something I could dig my teeth deeper into, something which was a little more intense but at the same time very entertaining." The actor told FirstPost that when she "heard the one-liner of Mimi, I felt it had a lot of heart and soul, but is also very entertaining. It felt like the perfect film I'd like to lead as my first time."
Kriti Sanon celebrated her birthday with friends, media and family on July 26. Varun Sharma and Dinesh Vijan were in attendance. (Photo: Varun Sharma/Instagram)
On Monday, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Laxman Uterkar and Dinesh Vijan went live on Instagram to announce that their film Mimi is releasing four days early on Netflix and Jio Cinema. Earlier, the film was scheduled for July 30 release.
Trade analyst Ramesh Bala is impressed with Kriti Sanon's performance in Mimi. "This is Kriti Sanon 2.0 that I’ve just watched in Mimi! She is one to watch out for!! Completely owned the film as Mimi in the titular role and ruled the screen," he wrote via Twitter.
"That the film has a clutch of solid acting talent — Supriya Pathak, Manoj Pahwa, Pankaj Tripathi and Sai Tamhankar — gives you hope. And the theme itself has an emotive pull: who does a child belong to, the woman who gives him birth, or the one who raises him as her own? Nature, or nurture? The question never gets old," writes The Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta in her review of the movie. Read the complete review HERE.
“I like to feed off the energy of my co-stars because, for me, acting is the art about reacting. It is always collaborative. Even if one person is weak, the scene can drop. A scene cannot be comical if the other person doesn’t react. So, with Pankaj sir, I got the comfort. Here (in Mimi) there is a lot more. Our on-screen relationship in this film is very beautiful," Kriti Sanon said on working with Pankaj Tripathi.
"It is difficult. You can have an all-in-all comedy film like Luka Chuppi but in this film, there are intense scenes. But I think this is where the actors play the part. It is the cast’s support that elevates the scenes. They can make it intense and the very moment makes it extremely comical. For instance, in the scene where Supriya Pathak forces Kriti to tell who is the father of the kid. That scene is intense but the way Pankaj sir reacts to it, the whole emotion of the scene changes," the filmmaker told us. Read more HERE.
"The second schedule was difficult for me emotionally as well as physically. But I was so passionate and obsessed about the film and the character that all of this felt satisfactory. It eventually paid off," the actor told indianexpress.com.
"It was very sweet when Kangana Ranaut posted about Mimi. It was very encouraging," Kriti Sanon told Bollywood Hungama when she was asked about her reaction to Kangana's post on her newly released film.
“Films have a lot of power to change mindsets and bring about changes in society. It encourages people to start a conversation on topics that we don’t want to talk about or don’t talk about enough. When that happens in an entertaining manner, it leaves an impact, which is more important," Kriti had earlier said when asked about Mimi's subject.
The original plan was that Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Laxman Utekar and Dinesh Vijan would watch the film together. But Dinesh, who celebrates his birthday today, thought it would be great if Mimi is experienced by everyone, including Kriti and Pankaj's fans and media together. During the live session on Instagram, the Mimi producer mentioned the early release of the film is Kriti's birthday gift. Kriti celebrates her birthday on July 27. When Kriti asked why an early release, Dinesh said, "Like babies are born premature, our film can also come early."