Laapataa Ladies Movie Review: Movies set in heartland have their own charm, particularly when they aim to convey a powerful social message without being overtly preachy and instead use subtle, natural humour. That’s the premise of Kiran Rao’s latest film, Laapataa Ladies, which is a delightful treat laced with lots of humour and unapologetic conversations.
Rao, who returns to direction after 14 years (after her debut film Dhobi Ghat), crafts an interesting tale where the message is never overbearing. The filmmaker skillfully employs humour and veiled identity (ghunghat) to remark on ingrained patriarchy and its effects, yet it never overshadows the entertainment value. Her humorous, slice-of-life narratives persuasively argue for women’s equality, education and empowerment without demeaning males or caving in to prejudice.
Shot in Madhya Pradesh, Laapataa Ladies is set in rural backdrop of fictional Nirmal Pradesh. The narrative opens in a second-class train car with a number of recently married couples making their way to their separate villages. The brides are all wearing long ghunghats, or veils, covering their faces. After hurriedly stepping off the train and avoiding the night’s darkness, Deepak (Sparsh Shrivastava) takes his wife’s hand and heads toward his village. On a truck, then on a friend’s scooter, he is excited to make his new bride meet his family and neighbours. Soon the couple reaches the village. But as soon as the girl lifts her ghunghat, all hell breaks loose as she’s not the girl their son got married to. As the realisation dawns upon Deepak that he has brought someone else’s wife, Jaya (Pratibha Ranta), he can only think of his actual wife Phool (Nitanshi Goel), who is left behind in the train without any money or address to go to. And then begins a messy ride.
Written by Sneha Desai, Biplab Goswami, and Divyanidhi Sharma, the film creates a narrative that never compels you to pay attention. It moves at an easy-to-follow pace as it smoothly transitions from one scene to the next. It drops you into a world where people want to live modest lives, according to traditions passed down from their forefathers. I admired how Laapataa Ladies confronts and then dispels the long-standing gender prejudices in our culture without feeling sorry for doing so.
Laapataa Ladies is not just a film aimlessly ranting about the tradition of ghunghat; it brings to light the years of conditioning that a woman is subjected to by her own family and the society that she lives in. Other than the aforementioned couples, there are other women in focus, too — one who is bearing the brunt of a family’s name and legacy and has even forgotten the taste of her favourite dish only because her husband doesn’t like it, one hung up on the idea that marriage is the ultimate destination even while her husband is away at work, one who chooses to live alone because she doesn’t want to be abused by her husband.
Rao manages to intertwine all these stories and juxtapose them with one another at right junctions, without being too in-your-face about it. The subtlety works beautifully as the stark contrast in each of the characters’ lives unfold. The best part about the film is that it doesn’t make women feel victimised or play the victim card.
Laapataa Ladies is a film which should be celebrated by every gender. In the season of big screen larger-than-life entertainers, Rao’s film comes across as refreshing and turns out to be a clear winner.
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