Rare, different and a Ranvir Shorey to boot. And you have Mithya.

The ingredients are loyally Bollywood. Aspiring actor, amnesia, love, laughs, maa, dadimaa — director Rajat Kapoor could have easily strayed into the regular lalala route, but the bullet-ridden thriller of an on-off don stays honest and original throughout.

The hopes of a full-length comedy are misplaced as the Bheja Fry team delivers reality blows this time.

Ranvir Shorey is VK, a Bollywood wannabe, with stars in eyes and Hamlet spinning in head. The naive young man reaches Bhaiwood instead.

You smile, and then shudder at the turn of events. The unassuming actor goes filmi with gangsters at one moment, and the next moment, there is a bullet piercing his elbow.

Neha Dhupia does remarkably well, when all that is expected of her is to grab a headscarf and seduce Shorey in high heels. But their romance has a high “unbelievable” quotient.

Naseeruddin Shah excels as the flashy casanova who changes molls every six months. Saurabh Shukla and Vinay Pathak support him in their mafia avatar.

And now the man of Mithya, Ranvir Shorey. His VK goes through a whirlpool of emotions, all of which are portrayed with an unseen ease. Comedy might be Shorey’s trump card, but the movie taps his other strengths too.

Now this is one promising cinema.