Annu (Ali Fazal) is a budding filmmaker from Allahabad. He's also somewhat of a fixer, specialising in getting candidates passed in the final exams. Maithili (Shraddha Srinath) is one such student he meets and falls in love with her. He sets about getting the question paper out for her using different ways and wins her heart in the process. Parental pressure gets in the way of their love and Annu is shot upon, prompting him to run away to Mumbai. Life turns a circle when three years later, he realises his dreams of becoming a filmmaker and comes back to shoot his film in Allahabad. Maithili is married to an impotent goon Guru (Sikander Kher) whose favourite pastime is beating his wife in anger. She has enough of it and wants to break free. Thankfully, old flame gets ignited and Annu finds a ‘filmi’ way to win back his love and make everything right.
The film is a typical masala entertainer, with the director accentuating all the major tropes associated with the genre of romantic Hindi films. It’s a tribute to the Hindi heartland’s obsession with our films. The film starts with Ali Fazal enacting the roles of both Dilip Kumar and Prithviraj Kapoor from Mughal-e-Azam when the electricity goes out during a screening. He holds court as the audience listens spellbound, till the lights come on. He’s best friends with the projectionist (Sanjay Mishra), who later plays a crucial role in his love life. His father (Tigmanshu Dhulia) is shown to be a failed actor who hasn’t let go of his Bollywood obsession and delights in spouting dialogue from old Dharmendra films. A local gunda (Deep Raj Rana) also wants a career in Bollywood. There is a shoot going on both at the beginning and the end of the film. The movie is also director Dhulia’s homage to single-screen theatres. Milan talkies, the theatre in the film, is shown to be the rendezvous point of the lovers and serves as a minor character.
The film went through severe development hell and it shows. The editing is all over the place and the production values aren’t upto the mark either. Allahabad’s rustic beauty doesn’t come through in the cinematography. Writing wise its the dialogue which bring out the drama and the humour. The screenplay too is a bit choppy.
What keeps you engrossed are the performances. The two leads, Ali Fazal and South actress Shraddha Srinath, who is making her debut in Hindi, make you believe they are very much in love. There is a tenderness to their passion and a desperation as well. You want them both to come together in the end. Ali is his usual dependable self and Shraddha has enough confidence and charm to win you over. The supporting cast, comprising Ashutosh Rana, who softens his stance as the film progresses, Sikander Kher, as the alcoholic husband, Reecha Sinha, as the heroine’s bestie and Rajeev Gupta as her maternal uncle do their bits to keep the drama moving.
All-in-all, watching Milan Talkies is like watching a flawed but fantastic idea taking shape and dissolving upon itself. You leave the theatre wondering what could have been if Tigmanshu had a smooth sailing throughout...