Mr & Mrs Mahi director Sharan Sharma: ‘Title comes from Sidhu and his wife sharing same name’

A still from Mr & Mrs Mahi

What if a woman marries into a family who encourages her dream? Out of this thought was born Mr & Mrs Mahi, the Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer that opened to audiences yesterday. Director Sharan Sharma says, "Usually, films focus on the achiever's glory, but we wanted to navigate the journey of the support system around him/her. I found the idea of love [blossoming] in an arranged marriage endearing. These two have nothing in common and find their connection in cricket."

The director and his writing partner Nikhil Mehrotra built the two Mahis - Mahima, a doctor whose talent for cricket is spotted by her failed cricketer-husband Mahendra. The story was anchored by two of Sharma's favourite actors. "Raj can be called a gift to cinema, given his promise towards his craft. When we started writing, we didn't have names in mind. But Raj was a natural choice by the time we finished writing it. He is an evolved actor; he knows how to [explore] the psyche of a man who is weighed down by the insecurities of the world, and goes above and beyond to support his wife."

Sharan Sharma, Navjot Singh Sidhu and MS Dhoni

After his maiden directorial venture Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020), Sharma went back to Kapoor. To him, she was a natural fit for the role. "I wrote Mahima from the interpretation I had of the Janhvi I knew back then. She was an innocent, sweet puppy who followed people in her life until she found her voice. She brought that vulnerability. I needed an actor who would work hard and that's her biggest virtue. She gave it her all, and became a cricketer from a person who knew nothing about the sport. I felt their chemistry while shooting - they were two goofy children playing in the park."

Going by the title, the movie feels like a hat-tip to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There's more to it, says the director. "I'm a huge Dhoni fan, not just of his cricket, but his worldview. The film has a lot of his ideologies because they spoke to me. But the title comes from the endearing story about Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife [Navjot Kaur Sidhu] sharing the same name. Once we came up with the title, we reached out to Dhoni for a go-ahead, and he responded with a yes quickly. I hope someday he will watch my movie."