Sai Tamhankar praises 'new-age' ideas entering Hindi cinema

Sai Tamhankar will be making a return to Hindi cinema with Laxman Utekar's upcoming drama, Mimi. Starring Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi, the film is a social drama that deals with the subject of surrogacy. Tamhankar believes that it is a positive sign that filmmakers are moving beyond the usual stereotypes in films.

"It's great to see Hindi filmmakers not limiting themselves to stereotypical storylines and characters," Tamhankar said. "We as an audience have seen the same story tropes again and again which gets quite boring. With today’s generation being so quick to call out the hypocrisies and share their feedback regarding a movie, filmmakers want to explore beyond the horizon of stereotypes. Even actors want to bring out stories of people who have been suppressed by society.”

The actress plays a key role in the film. "Working with the team of Mimi was a great experience," she said. "Laxman sir knows how to appease an audience with quirky, relatable characters and heart-touching storylines. Even though everyone knows motherhood is a boon, people aren’t aware of the forms of pregnancy. We need to educate people on how becoming a mother should never be tied down to women being married or not."

About her own character in the film, she said, "I love the way she was shaped throughout the film. I hope I can be part of more such stories in the future which are informative as well as entertaining.”

Directed by Laxman Utekar, Mimi is based on the Marathi feature film Mala Aai Vhaychay! (2011). It also marks the first time Tamhankar is collaborating with Sanon and with Tripathi.

The actress was last seen in Hindi cinema in Love Sonia (2018). More recently, she was seen alongside Swwapnil Joshi in the second season of Sameer Vidwans's thriller, Samantar 2 (2021).

Produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films and directed by Laxman Utekar, Mimi follows the journey of a surrogate mother. Starring Sanon, Tamhankar, Tripathi, Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak, the movie is set to be released on Netflix and Jio Cinema on 30 July.