A great review deserves as much credit as a great film. It navigates the discerning, niche audience from the maze of mindless high octane action, war films heavy on nationalism, espionage thrillers, badly scripted ones of horror, mystery genre and several sequels to inane, old comedies ! Despite being averse to leaving home comfort of OTT binge watching, we caught ‘Laapataa Ladies’ on a big ‘PVR’ Screen on our Sister’s ‘Five Star’ feedback.
As veteran cine-goers we’ve seen it all in classics from Bimal Roy in 1960s to Hrishikesh Mukherji and Shyam Benegal in ‘80s that reveled in the art of simple storytelling. Here we revisit that simplicity and humane touches of ‘Parekh’ and ‘Sujata’ or a fable retold in Sai Paranjape’s ‘Katha’ to the empowering ‘Queen’ (2103) &the delightful ‘Panchayat’ series (2020). This one relates to age-old suppression of women through a quaint tale set in village milieu of two similarly attired young brides getting switched in the station, as their faces remain entirely covered as per local customs !
‘LL’ brilliantly directed by Kiran Rao, with its witty imagery, screenplay & superb cinematography of our contemporary rural social set-ups, akin to legendary cartoonist Lakshman’s comic stereotypes like the corrupt, paan chewing local Cop and his moronic sidekick. Social messages come thick and fast with dry humour as when the venerable tea-stall lady calls out the woman’s plight declaring ‘fraud that’s always been perpetrated on us’ or ‘names of stations change with the Govts’ its difficult to recall the names.
Steeped in ancient beliefs and customs sacrosanct to them (and its not just the rural folk), the elders cannot accept women as free & self-dependent !But there’s a twist in this tale. The seemingly helpless lost brides are made of sterner stuff, go-getters in a man’s world they are up for the fight and the two ‘Laapataa’ Ladies, played with charm and conviction by Pratibha Ranta as ‘Jaya’ and Nitanshi Goel as ‘Phool Kumari’ simply steal the show. Men become mere players in the ‘theatre of the absurd’ that’s our society.
Thankfully the absence of big stars works wonderfully for the film as it did for the celebrated hit ‘12th Fail’. All the characters, though a bit contrived in parts, look essentially genuine. Special mention for Chaaya Kadam who plays ‘Manju Maai’ who’s towering presence gives shelter to the weak. In a surprise cameo is Ravi Kishan – his comic talent and acting chops make us wonder why he doesn’t focus on his craft more than his role as an MP ! With that feel-good effect, this film that teaches us what we always preach.
Working on Living 