The Baby Maker (1970) by James Bridges where a hippie girl (Barbara Hershey) agrees to have a baby for a childless couple to Lekh Tandon's remarkable Doosri Dulhan (1983) which went unnoticed starring Victor Bannerjee and Sharmila Tagore who bring home a prostitute played by Shabana Azmi to have their child. Filhaal (2002) by Meghna Gulzar that saw the awesome combo of Tabu and Sushmita Sen creating wonders.

The last word on motherhood and parenthood in Mimi comes not from the Indian heroine or even from her relatives and friends, it comes from a white American woman. In another film with a script that had been somewhat thought through, it could perhaps have been concluded that the decision to give the final say on this pivotal theme to a foreigner from the race that once colonised India was a result of the same colonial hangover that causes Indians to give more weight to conversations, awards and recognition from the West than from India, the rest of Asia or Africa. However, to even offer that critique of Mimi would be a compliment.

MIMI is the story of a girl who decides to become a surrogate mother. The year is 2013. Mimi Mansingh Rathore (Kriti Sanon) resides in a small town in Rajasthan. She dreams of becoming an actress and moving to Mumbai. She's in touch with a man called Jolly (Nadeem Khan), who works in films. He asks her to move to Mumbai and pay him a few lakhs to get her portfolio done and even shoot a music video.

Netflix surprised the audience when Mimi was released four days ahead of its release. Kriti Sanon stars in the titular character, who wants to be a Bollywood superstar. She fantasies to star opposite Ranveer Singh and has Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif's posters stuck to her wall. But before she gives these actresses a run for their money, she has to go to Mumbai, which obviously needs money.

Bollywood's relationship with surrogacy dramas has not evolved beyond Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, it seems. Even as harrowing cases of abuse and exploitation emerge every other day, surrogacy is still just another avenue for our movies to romanticise motherhood. Director Laxman Utekar's Mimi, his second with star Kriti Sanon after Lukka Chuppi, is no exception.

Cinematographer Laxman Utekar's third directorial venture, Mimi is a strange beast in more ways than one. It starts off in the manner of a lighthearted drama about surrogacy and ends on an emotional note that borders on the mawkishly preachy.

Marathi movie Mala Aai Vhaychay (2011), directed by Samruddhi Porey, was released a decade ago. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi. It tackled the taboo subject of foreigners hiring Indian girls to be surrogate mothers and was said to be based on a real-life case. Mimi is the official Hindi adaptation of the film.

Mimi, streaming on Netflix, is a film that deals with surrogacy. It's full of dialogues and scenes that are a little on the nose, talking about the pious relationship between a child and its mother. However, the dominant presence is that of melodrama. Mimi is as filmy as it gets, and I don't mean this as a compliment.

It follows the story of a couple from the US, Summer (Evelyn Edwards) & John (Aidan Whytock), looking for a healthy Indian woman to be their surrogate prospect. Their driver Bhanu (Pankaj Tripathi), helps them to meet the perfect girl for the job Mimi (Kriti Sanon). They settle on paying Mimi a hefty sum in return for being a surrogate mother for them.

The surrogacy dramedy, follows a foolhardy Mimi (Kriti Sanon) - Bollywood aspirant and Ranveer Singh fangirl from Rajasthan - who signs up to be a surrogate for an American couple, without thinking about the social, emotional and legal implications of her decision.

There's is no sure-shot formula for the success of a remake in Bollywood. We have terrific remakes of some average films, and then there have been some that couldn't match the brilliance of the original. To decide which category Laxman Utekar's Mimi belongs is a little tricky. And we have our reasons for that. Mimi is the remake of Samruddhi Porey's National Award-winning Marathi film Mala Aai Vhhaychy, which was released in 2011.

One Word Review... Mimi: WONDERFUL. #Mimi rests on four pillars: Interesting plot, engaging screenplay, fine balance of drama, humour and emotions and super performances... This is #KritiSanon's breakout film, career-best act... Strongly recommended! #MimiReview