Mithya review: Huma S. Qureshi and Avantika Dassani in a fantastic gen Z stalker drama

Huma S. Qureshi and Avantika Dassani in 'Mithya'. (Image: Instagram/@iamhumaq)

‘I will not be ignored, Dan!’ Glenn Close says to Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, setting the benchmark for all stalker films.

Times have changed and there are cyberstalker shows like You and Eye Candy, and shows about obsession and killing like Killing Eve. But Indian shows and movies rarely, if ever, offer two female leads, forget stalking or revenge or anything else.

Rohan Sippy, Applause Entertainment and Zee5 break new ground with Huma S. Qureshi and Avantika Dassani playing the most amazing fluffy cat and rabid mouse game I have seen, and it’s gripping, scary and terrifying without any blood and gore. I mean there is, but more on the title than in the show.

(Image via Instagram @iamhumaq)

If location is everything, then Darjeeling’s mist-covered mountains make for the best location for this drama. The mist and the rain that envelop the little hill town become an integral part of the show, a character that does not get ‘credit’, alas.

So Huma S. Qureshi plays a Hindi professor Juhi Adhikari in a Darjeeling college. There’s lots happening in her life: she’s trying to get pregnant, she’s distracted by a dashing colleague (the ageless Indraneil Sengupta) and dealing with a husband obsessed with the nitty-gritties of ‘let’s get pregnant, like yesterday’.

Parambrata Chatterjee plays the English professor husband Neil, who also teaches in the same college. To top all this, Juhi has to now deal with a disruptive student who comes late to class and although the essay she submitted is good, the sharp professor knows it’s clearly plagiarised. That student is Rhea, a daughter of the college benefactor who lives in the college hostel.

Rhea is played by Avantika Dassani with more confidence than a seasoned star! Admitted that yesteryear’s star Bhagyashree is her mother (you do see flashes of similarity here) and her brother Abhimanyu Dassani turned me into a fan with his debut film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, but Avantika holds her own in this series as the conniving little mean girl who doesn’t like being caught out at cheating. This is a great debut!

The exchange between teacher and student is so well written, and in such chaste Hindi that the professor inside me was no longer watching idly. I sat up to rewind the bit and now enjoyed the calmness with which Juhi handles the situation. Little does she know that she’s just triggering off a rabid mouse who pleads with her, ‘Ma’am, I am awkward and inarticulate in class, but I know how to write, believe me!’

Move over ‘man stalks girl’ type thriller. Make way for the female stalker who is vicious and amoral as Rhea who harasses her professor in ways that are not always kosher. The best part of the show is that we can see what Rhea’s going to do, and we can’t help Juhi at all. We have already taken sides and want to warn Juhi about bad things that are going to happen. It’s been a while since any show has made you want to do that.

I love the fact that we know that Rhea is going to escalate a simple conversation into something sinister. It reminds me of the conversation between Michael Douglas and Glenn Close where he says, ‘I don't think having dinner with anybody's a crime.’ and she replies, ‘Not yet.’

Rhea has other reasons why she’s obsessed with Juhi and it’s a great unravelling. Juhi’s parents Sudha (Avantika Akerkar) and the ever so dad-like Rajit Kapoor live in the same town and offer Juhi a place to run away to when things crumble with her husband. Rajit Kapoor is a retired English professor (that’s why the Shakespeare and Wordsworth reference!) and when his secret comes out, you actually feel a twinge of sadness for kids who grow up feeling unwanted.

The question this series asks clearly, ‘How can you blame your circumstances for your actions?’

I sort of missed the first post action scene because the music suddenly picks up tempo and you think credits are going to roll because the montage pops up. But when I saw the second episode, I realised that there was a scene beyond the montage. I went back to episode one to watch it. Just felt gimmicky.

The makers say that the series is based on the format created by Gaby Hull (creator of shows like Cheat and Two Weeks To Live). The two local police - one man and one woman - make for a great investigating team. K.C. Shankar as Ajeet and Bishakha Thapa as Sunanda, take a bow! Not to forget the creepy college security guard Arun (Ronnie) played by Krishna Bisht. Well done.

But how can I sign off without finding one thing to nitpick? Well, there is. The music in the series. It does go on and on without respite, but it tends to get rather loud when ‘bad’ things happen. I watched the show with minimal volume. It’s not inappropriate, but we get that this show is a dramatic thriller without needing so many unsubtle hints. Ignore this nit, and sign in to Zee5 and enjoy as a rabid mouse plays with the fluffy cat. This series is so well written I am still freaking out about one text message and picture that Juhi gets from Rhea. The message asks, ‘Looks familiar?’