Rating: na Producer: Mirah Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Presentor: Twinkle Group Exe. Producer: Sanjay Dawra Director: Satish Rajwade Story, Screenplay: Parag Kulkarni, Satish Rajwade Camera: Suhas Gujrathi Editing: Rajesh Rao Cast: Swapnil Joshi, Mukta Barve Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

A young modern girl dressed in Long Red skirt and white top (Let us call her Ms. Mumbai) moves all alone from Mumbai to Pune just to select her would be, on the request of her Mother. After passing from one junction to other searching for the address, she finally lands at the destination point, where some boys are playing gully cricket. She selects none other than the batsman (Let us call him Mr. Pune) to know exact location of the house; and as a result of which he is clean bowled. The young man (Dressed in Bermuda shorts, an overcoat and sports shoes) however directs her to the location but to her surprise, the door is locked. Ms. Mumbai is unable to contact the concerned person, as her cell phone battery is down. So, she proceeds to a grocery shop, only to call her friend and inform about the non availability of the person. Here again, Ms. Mumbai and Mr. Pune meet for the second time.

Their general argument to show each other’s attachment for their native, brings them together, when Mr. Pune offers courtesy to Ms. Mumbai by taking her for a ride during the day time, as the girl has a return ticket for an evening train and wants to pass her time. Together, they visit places like Saras Baug, Dagduseth Ganapati temple, crowded Tulshi baug and Sinhagad. They share their experiences about their past love affairs, but do not reveal each others name. Finally, Mr. Pune drops Ms. Mumbai at Pune station and both say good bye to each other. While she waits for her train, she receives a call on her cell phone, (which suddenly starts functioning) from the boy from Pune, whom she had actually come to see. But, when she comes out to meet him at the gate, as agreed, she finds Mr. Pune, still struggling to kick his scooter. Needless to say that Mr. Pune is none other than her would be. In the climax shot the girl is shown running to catch her train back to Mumbai, giving some indication to the boy about her approval.

Director Satish Rajwade directs this unusual love story in his own style trying to keep the audience engaged with arguments and counter arguments between the two characters. Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai, is more like an audio delight ( through timely dialogues) than visual impact, as you only notice the two characters in the same dress for about 100 minutes, except for the song-cum-dream sequence for 5 minutes, when they are seen in some designer costumes. It is only few outdoor locations of Pune darshan that brings in some change, but otherwise you see two of them just perform and express their emotions, while making their point. There isn’t much scope for music, but other technical areas have been handled well.
Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai(MPM), is thus an experiment to attempt something different. Such experiments are only acceptable in Marathi cinema. Precisely, MPM is a performance driven and communication based film with both Swapnil Joshi and Mukta Barve coming out with realistic performances. Except for few junior artistes, there are no other characters in the film. Targeted mainly at the young audience from Mumbai and Pune, the film does succeed in inviting the attention of elders besides the youngsters. But, this movie is certainly not for school going kids, as they are sure to feel sleepy or become restless during that total 106 minutes journey. For others, it is a light entertainer, for a change.