Laapataa Ladies

Wow! This is one of the rare movies that actually made me cry. Tears were rolling down my cheek by the end of the movie. The three leading actors did phenomenal work but my favourite was Nitanshi Goel as Phool. Her innocence was enough to make me fall in love with her and root for her throughout the film.

The scene where Phool gets her first salary is just so heartwarming! From being this naive young girl in a completely unfamiliar place to finding her strength and becoming financially independent, her journey was beautiful. The film is wonderfully developed, and it works as a true dramedy, a positive one at that, where we are shown there is something good out of everything. You feel for the characters since the beginning and celebrate their success. Sparsh Srivastava as Deepak is so lovable and Pratibha as Jaya is witty. The bonding all the characters manage to develop is lovely. The way Phool calls out to Deepak and they both hug each other while crying, it's best scene in the whole film ! The scene where Deepak secretly holds Phool's hand and she looks at him and then after a point, lets go off her ghunghat while they keep holding hands had me with butterflies in my stomach !!! Lovely film !!

Today, I went to the theatre to experience Kiran Rao's new movie, "Laapataa Ladies." I was stunned when I watched the movie. The performances, storytelling, humor, and social messages were outstanding. Initially, I wasn't very interested in seeing her new movie, considering Kiran Rao had directed only one movie in her career, "Dhobi Ghat." However, knowing that she is Aamir Khan's ex-wife and has been a co-director, writer, and producer of many good films, I decided to give it a try.

Let's talk about the movie. The cast is entirely new; actors and actresses are all new faces to me. But they gave their best in the movie, especially Pratibha Ranta and Ravi Kishan. The social message part of the movie was really good, highlighting how women were treated like servants or slaves. They showed various issues, including agricultural problems, that exist in India.

The movie is set in the 20s era when mobile phones were just introduced in India, and the only game was the snake game on Nokia mobiles, so there was no internet, no Gen Z, and no adult scenes. It was a purely cinematic experience. The girl who stole my heart is Nitanshi Goel. She is so cute, man. I loved her. She is now added to my crush list.

Anyway, you should watch this movie if you want to see some good wholesome social drama. This movie will absolutely win your heart. I give this movie 4.5/5. Lastly, I want to share something that happened in the theatre. A guy who was working at INOX, where I watched the movie, asked me, "Sir, boi ta kemon laaglo ar etake apni koto star deben out of 5." I told him the same rating that I gave in this review.

Laapata Ladies is a sort of film that is very rare these days. A satire that is an eye-opener for the audience and needs everyone's attention. With unknown cast, limited budget and great script, it's a movie for all age-groups, every gender and is bound to go a long way.

This Kiran Rao's tragicomedy of two brides in rural India who accidentally get swapped during a train journey while returning from their wedding. Their misadventures after this strange event will make you laugh and the same time think about the social taboos a women has to go through in our society.

Ravi Kishan playing the cop investigating this case is a delight to watch. Very subtly and hilariously he gives movie the much needed comic side that perfectly balances the emotional cause for which the movie was made. Probably one of his best performance till date.

Newcomers Sparsh Shrivastava (Deepak), Nitanshi Goel (Phool) & Pratibha Ranta (Jaya), they all justified their casting by giving some of the memorable performances. Hats off to all of them.

#laapataladies #womensupportingwomen #IWD2024 #MustWatch

Interestingly, the reviews of the film by leading dailies prove the very point that the film attempts to make... about the invisibility of women, and their lack of agency .

Here it is .. The TOI says it's a story of two husbands who lose their wives, Filmibeat also called it a story of two young husbands, Business Standard calls it the story of a husband who loses his wife , ABP Live comments on the laughter it evokes, The Indian Express says "it is struggling to stay afloat" ( so not true 😃) .

Only a handful got it right ! Filmfare, The Hindu, and a few others.

And this is the very premise of the film.

Based on an award winning story written by Biplab Goswami, Kiran Rao returns to direction after 14 years with this delightfully thought provoking social commentary on women's empowerment . And wow, does she deliver !

The story is set in a fictitious village in a state called Nirmal Pradesh, reflective of any state in the cow belt of India. It revolves around Phool, and Jaya two women who are on their way to their new marital homes, and due to identical veils, Phool's husband mistakenly brings Jaya home, instead of Phool.

Phool realised late at the last stop that she has been deserted, and Jaya knowingly accompanies the wrong husband to his home. When both husbands realise that one's wife is "wrong" and the others wife is missing, starts the journey of finding them and returning them to their rightful homes . Phool is a shy, simple village girl, with no exposure to the world at large, and does not know either the address of her village or the address of her husband's home. .

Jaya is a girl who is a brilliant student and top ranked amongst 200 students , but has been forced to marry a man who has reportedly killed off his first wife due to dowry.

Both women experience freedom, a sense of agency , and in the process they find themselves . In 5 days, they undergo a life altering journey of self discovery, and confidence.

The veil of the two brides is metaphoric in nature ... and the Lifting the veils of social ills like patriarchy, education, lack of power, no freedom of choice, apart from the more obvious ills of lack of education, dowry. Very very masterfully, the story starts being told through the eyes of the men ( the husbands , the policeman) and soon shifts gears towards the actual story of the women . If they had not got lost, they would probably never have found their voice, their confidence and their will. Three vital skills needed to live a life of control and happiness .

A special mention needs to be made of the character Manju Maai who runs a tea stall at the station where Phool gets lost. She unexpectedly plays the reluctant catalyst in the transformation of Phool .. and their scenes and dialogues leave you hanging on your each word. Masked, layered and simple all the same time ! She aids Phool to look within and question everything, of why just being obedient and skilled at housework is not "good upbringing" . She is also the person who introduces Phool to the thrill of earning an income, however meagre is might have been.

Women's empowerment is such a loosely used term, seldom portrayed in its real sense at the grassroots level. What does empowerment mean to a woman ? Only a woman can tell ! It's different for each woman, as it's different for Jaya and Phool. But the sisterhood between the two when they come face to face in the end makes you want to stand up and dance and weep with joy!

Nitanshi Goel as Phool, Pratibha Ranta as Jaya , Sparsh Srivastava as Deepak, Chaya Kadam as Manju Maai, Ravi Kishan as the police inspector have given spectacular performances.

But the real Hero is the Story itself and the nuanced and skilful direction by Kiran Rao. Take a bow !! This gem is not to be missed . Films like this come once in a blue moon . Savour every minute every dialogue . It's definitely the breakout film of this year !

Before making the movie the makers have done a very well research of rural India. The details shown in the movie about the villages of North India carries the entire movie on its shoulder. Its a social commentary on many superstitious belief which is still being followed very strongly in rural India. The makers have also proven that for showing women empowerment, neither they have to undress girls nor have to give wine glass in their hand. The movie is salad of Light comedy, social drama, social messaging, a hit on negative side of patriarchy and women empowerment. The best part of the movie was it gave many wonderful messages by keeping entire plot of the movie quite light and Comic. Apart from all this makers have also proven the point that we don't need high quality VFX, mega stars and big budget to make a masterpiece as the budget of this movie is only 5 crore as per my knowledge.

Talking about the performances according to me, Sparsh Shrivastava has totally nailed it. Whatever scenes he has got, he performed it with 100% perfection. He along with Nitanshi Goel were having that innocence shown beautifully on big screen. Both were having limited screen timing together but they had wonderful chemistry. Pratibha Ranta was most impactful in the entire move and movie makers tried to give most of the social messages in the movie through her. Through her strong screen presence, she added more value to the messaging part of the movie. Ravi Kishan was most popular face of the movie but makers have utilized him only as supporting cast but he has done wonderful job in that. Each scene of the movie has been directed with heart. Comedy, Emotions, Social Commentary, chemistry between lead casts everything looks very well directed. This kind of direction will tempt me to watch more work of Kiran Rao.

This movie is roof why Aamir Khan is asset of Indian Cinema. Even without his screen presence, he has ability to give this kind of masterpiece. I always believed that movie maker Aamir is better than actor Aamir.