Laapataa Ladies is less about two women getting lost, and more about them finding themselves. At no point, it breaks into a lengthy tirade against patriarchy but somehow manages to drive home its message. Its humour is more amusing than ha-ha funny. There is something old-school-ly optimistic about the film, which can be brushed off as naïve by a nihilistic viewer. If not infectious, the film’s goodness is endearing, even nostalgic. Laapataa Ladies is a simple film, of simple people and a simpler time.
The year is 2001, the setting is the fictional state of Nirmal Pradesh (parts of the film were actually shot in Madhya Pradesh). Phool (Nitanshi Goel) and Deepak (Sparsh Shrivastava) are newlyweds, who are travelling to the latter’s village. Notice here how he always walks ahead of her, leaving her directionless as she tries to navigate her way with a ghoonghat (veil) halving her vision. It’s patriarchy lesson 101: women should stoop, cover their faces and learn the art of identifying people by their feet.
Deepak and Phool get on a train filled with couples like them. Husbands in cheap, oversized suits, either gray or green, and wives in bridal red not even an inch of chin showing. At night, when the train halts at a station, Deepak hurries out with Phool. They reach the house and the muh dikhai comes with a surprise. The girl behind the veil is not the one he married.
From here the film is a journey of these two women. Phool, who is stranded on the railway station, and the swapped Pushpa/ Jaya (Pratibha Ranta) at Deepak’s house. Seeing Phool, nervous and alone in the dead of the night at the station, I expected the worst, but Laapataa Ladies wishes to remain untouched by the dark realities of the hinterlands. Phool meets Manju (Chhaya Kadam), a lady who single-handedly runs a food stall at the station and learns a thing or two about not relying on men. Back home, Pushpa teaches the women in Deepak’s family to always have each other’s back. It’s sweet and subtle and nothing is underlined but at times the film felt too goody-goody to be true, almost utopic. Ravi Kishan plays Manohar, a cop, who is trying to untangle this quirky mystery. His pan-chewing act livens up the narrative when it’s sagging. Kishan is effortlessly enjoyable.
Laapataa Ladies is Kiran Rao’s return to the director’s chair after Dhobi Ghat. The two films are not just years but also worlds apart. Dhobi Ghat is the portrait of a city painted by the brushes of its inhabitants. Laapataa Ladies is set in villages but is not necessarily a rural tale. Its themes are more universal. Rao’s direction has an ease and the film’s storytelling is as soothing as a tale told by a grandparent. She ably captures the sluggishness of village life. The tongue-in-cheek humour is fun and the situational comedy works. But occasionally. the charm wears off and ends up being repetitive. The messaging takes over and not just the women, the film also loses the plot.
Film: Laapataa Ladies
Directed by: Kiran Rao
Cast: Sparsh Shrivastava, Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam
Rating: 3/5