Mili: A Girl Who Brings a Building to Life
Another Hrishikesh Mukherjee banger. Mili is about a girl bursting with life, played beautifully by Jaya Bhaduri. She’s chirpy, playful, always cracking jokes, singing and dancing with the children in her apartment building. Mukherjee takes his time introducing this little world, a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone and rumours travel quickly. Yet beneath the cheerfulness lies a hint of an illness that the film initially keeps hidden. Even someone so full of life can be carrying a disease that may prove impossible to overcome.
Ashok Kumar plays Mili’s father. His daughter is the source of so much joy in the building. Mukherjee’s direction is brilliant, from the framing and camera angles to the way he captures Mili’s restless, springy energy and, in contrast, the depths of another character’s depression. Much of the first half is devoted to establishing the people and their relationships before Shekhar, played by Amitabh Bachchan, truly enters Mili’s world.
Shekhar: The Man Who Forgot How to Live
Shekhar is an angry young man, wealthy but profoundly broken. He moves from house to house, trying to escape rumours surrounding the tragedy of his mother and father. He drinks to drown his grief and isolates himself in a terrace flat at the top of the building. Mili, naturally curious, wonders why this man is always so angry. Through conversations, compassion and time, they gradually grow close.
What makes their bond moving is how Shekhar begins to trust her. He opens up about his mother, his father and his deepest sorrows. When they gaze at the stars, he compares her presence to sunlight: she drives away his bitterness and makes him want to be good. This trust is a pivotal part of the film. Mili changes his mannerisms, his relationships with the children and his willingness to treat others kindly.
Spoilers ahead, including discussion of the ending.
Love in Letters and Bouquets
Then Mili’s illness worsens and she is confined to bed. Their meetings give way to tender messages exchanged through bouquets. Those little letters capture another phase of love, when two people cannot meet but find ways to stay close, even though Shekhar lives only a floor above her. His pride and reluctance to leave his comfort zone remain part of his character.
When her father learns of their attachment, he tells Shekhar the truth: Mili may have very little time left. Mili has overheard the prognosis herself. Shekhar’s instinct is to run away, as he has always done whenever life becomes painful. He cannot bear the thought of staying near someone who taught him to live and then watching her die.
Mili and Shekhar: Runa’s Intervention
Runa, played by Aruna Irani, initially feels like a somewhat disconnected subplot. Her introduction and the commentary about how society judges a woman like her seem tangential, especially given her position in the building. But her role becomes crucial when Mili asks her to speak to Shekhar. Finding him ready to leave, Runa sharply calls out his habit of running away at the first sign of trouble. Her words force him to question himself.
Shekhar finally decides to stay. Alongside the others, he tries to give Mili joy and hope. He asks doctors whether anything can be done and learns of a researcher in Switzerland. Despite the bleak prognosis, he refuses to rule out even a small chance. Most movingly, he decides to marry her, even knowing that they may have only days together. He wants to fulfil at least one of her dreams and make whatever time remains happy.
An Ending Suspended Between Hope and Despair
The ending is beautifully ambiguous. The couple leave for Switzerland, and Mili’s father waves toward their departing aeroplane, keeping a promise even though they may never see his gesture. He is torn between hope and despair. The audience can imagine a hopeful future or acknowledge the devastating possibility that awaits them. But that uncertainty is life itself, and the film’s point is not to settle the prognosis.
The real point is what Mili has done for Shekhar. A girl fighting her own illness gives a grief-stricken man a reason to live and become better. Their friendship grows into a love powerful enough for him to stop running and choose another person’s happiness, despite the pain he knows may follow.
Why Mili Stayed With Me
“Sometimes it is about staying, knowing full well how difficult the road may be.”
Scottshak · From this review
Review commentary by Scottshak. Promotional still: Rupam Pictures / Shemaroo, supplied through Apple TV.
When Shekhar announces he will marry Mili even if she has only twenty days to live, it both shatters and warms the heart. It makes me want to believe in love again, and more than that, restores my faith in humanity. That scene struck me personally. I have experienced someone leaving a relationship because my illness was difficult for her to face, including the anxiety of discussing it with her parents. Watching Shekhar knowingly choose to stand beside Mili, to offer her happiness and perhaps a chance at hope, brought that contrast into sharp focus.
Such a willingness to sacrifice for someone else’s happiness feels painfully rare today. That’s why Shekhar’s choice is so affecting. The film reminds me that love is not merely about being together when life is easy. Sometimes it is about staying, knowing full well how difficult the road may be.
For another romance that confronts illness and an uncertain future, read my Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se review.
Watch the official trailer
Watch the Mili trailer on YouTube Movies.
Mili (1975)
