Mr & Mrs Mahi director recalls borrowing inspiration from Sidhu and seeking Dhoni’s approval on the title, as he makes a love story set against backdrop of cricket
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.”
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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.”
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