Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities (2004)

Delving into the limitless world of creative endeavors, and vicissitudes in the way of such endeavors, this tale of an artist and his muse, like a painting, leaves itself open to interpretations and readings by every viewer...

Director:

M.F. Hussain

Writers:

Owais Husain (story), M.F. Hussain (dialogue),

Stars:

Tabu, Raghuvir Yadav, Nadira Babbar

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tabu	...	Meenaxi
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Nawab
Nadira Babbar	...	Khala / Masi
Kunal Kapoor	...	Kameshwar Mathur
Sadiya Turabi	...	Naghma
Zafar Ansari	...	Publisher
Zainab Ravdjee	...	Naghma's friend
Pawan Sughand	...	Qawwali main singer
Madhu Gopinath	...	Kalaripallu performer
Vakkom Sajeev	...	Kalaripallu performer
Bunty Sharma	...	Boy with kite
Chetan Motiwalla	...	Man on motorcycle
Raisa Husain	...	'Rang' exotic dancer
Sharmishta Roy	...	'Rang' exotic dancer
Ghanteshwar T. Guru	...	Man at Jaisalmer station / Photographer

Storyline

A well-known Nawab, who is an author as well as a poet in Hyderabad, India, is approached by a beautiful young woman, with a heavy Hyderabadi accent named Meenaxi, to write a story on her, which the Nawab agrees to do so. When the Nawab's antique car breaks down, he takes it to a motor mechanic, and thus a story is formed in the Nawab's mind. The story takes place in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, where his lead actress is the maternal niece of the local Raja Bijendra Singh, and the motor mechanic is Kameshwar Mathur, the only son of a multi-millionaire. Kameshwar and Meenaxi meet and are instantly attracted to each other. The second scenario the Nawab creates takes place in Prague, the Czech republic, where Meenaxi is portrayed as a young woman living in a Nunnery by the name of Maria Gulcova, who has been assigned to do some research on India and it's culture. In order to do this, she meets with a young man from India, Kameshwar, and both are attracted to each other. The Nawab takes both ...

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Plot Keywords:

prague | writer | writer's block | rajasthan | poet | 

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Details

Official Sites:

official website

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi Urdu

Release Date:

2 April 2004 (India)

Also Known As:

Meenaxi

Filming Locations:

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A kissing scene was to be shot for the film in the swimming pool of a plush Jaisalmer hotel. The water was very cold - however, Tabu, an actress experienced in such shots, got into the pool half an hour before the shot was to be taken, while 'Kunal Kapoor' lingered outside. Although Tabu shivered for about fifteen minutes, she was completely prepared for the shot after twenty minutes. Then Kunal got in the pool just before the shot was to be taken - and when "Action!" was called, the young actor just shivered.

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Soundtracks

"Potter's Village"
Composed by A.R. Rahman

User Reviews

Visual Blank Verse

Meenaxi - is the story of a famous novelist Nawab (Raghubir Yadav) who has lost inspiration and is unable to write. He sees/imagines a beautiful perfume seller Meenaxi (Tabu) and tries to write a story around her character. The love interest is portrayed by Kunal Kapoor, a wannabe musician who repairs cars for a living. The story is presented in fragments with the reality (?) of the imagined Meenaxi in whites, grays, blacks and a distinct Deccani Urdu accent mixed in with the fictional Meenaxi in full blown vibrant Rajasthani colors and a suave sophisticate royal accent, and the fictional Maria as a Western girl living in a nunnery in Prague.

A word of caution to the reader - I am a fan of Renaissance art, of the well executed and exquisitely painted scenery or portraits and do not much enjoy abstract art. Meenaxi is absolute abstract art. I can see what MF Hussain tried to accomplish and think he achieved his aim extremely well but the story (well there isn't much of one) fails to engage me or touch me as it is too abstract. Having said that, I do see the visual artistry in this film and the excellent performances. Santosh Sivan is a master cinematographer and this could be his crowning achievement. The movie is like walking through a gallery of beautiful paintings, you want to stop and admire every frame. I will touch on this more when I talk of the songs.

The acting is by and large very good. Tabu is excellent as the Hyderabadi and Rajasthani Meenaxi but fails to engage me as much as the Maria from Prague.. And she is amazingly beautiful and mesmerizing throughout the film. Kunal Kapoor is fair to good - a decent debut. Raghubir Yadav is brilliant - he gets under the skin of Nawab and is the most engaging character in the movie for me.

The direction is good - Hussain the artist obviously is the force driving Hussain the director. But I cannot help feeling that I might have enjoyed the film more if it was less abstract.

The music is quite good - there are many songs and I loved almost all of them.

Noor-un-Ala-noor is brilliantly choreographed and has some Middle Eastern overtones. Rang Hai is drenched in color and visually stunning. The song/dance in the potter's village seems very Satrangi Re (Dil Se) inspired to me. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is a pleasing number set in the desert with monochrome spots of color and Tabu looks divine. Chinnamma Chilakkamma - what on earth was that? I couldn't figure out why the song and episode was in the film at all. My favorite song is Badan Dhuan Dhuan - it is in the backdrop of a play in Prague, but but why is Maria singing in Hindi? I do not know who choreographed which song but they were all brilliantly choreographed.

In the end I give the film an 8/10 for the visually stunning spectacle and acting but I wish that it had been less abstract and had engaged me more as a story. Now I want to watch Gaja Gamini by Hussain and see why he makes these women inspired films...