Laapataa Ladies – My Flash Review!

As the colourful credits roll, you are indeed taken back to the times of those Doordarshan serial days and you get a sense of what you should expect. The opening shot of a very young couple getting married in the hinterlands makes you wonder if it is a child marriage. This is 21st-century India and thankfully it is not. However, the film talks about a few other social evils that are perpetrated even today in India. Laapataa Ladies is at the outset a simple film with women and women’s issues at its core told in a very engaging manner.

Set in the Hindi heartland somewhere in Madhya Pradesh at a time when smartphones were not as ubiquitous as now, the film is antithetical to Karan Johar’s cinematic universe. Here, after the marriage, the newlywed couple travel by scooter in “triples” and then on the rooftop of a bus to reach the station to take the train to reach the husband’s place. On the train, there are at least three freshly minted couples where the brides are draped in the typical red saree and covering their faces with ghoonghats (a red thinly veiled garment worn by women that is used to cover the head always and face in front of strangers in parts of India).  Strangely all the grooms also wear khaki/brown colour suits. It doesn’t take too long for us to realise that the ghoonghat would become the raison d’être for the film.

There is a seemingly innocuous mix-up by which one of the grooms walks away with another bride and realises the folly only after reaching his house when the veil is removed.  The actual bride gets lost in the process at one of the train stations where she alights, realising that her husband is not with her. What happens with both these women is the rest of the story. The storytelling is fairly straightforward and even predictable. What keeps the proceedings engaging are delightful characters and some delectable moments featuring these characters.

Every character tells a poignant story whether it is the little boy at the station, his “handicapped” friend, the lady who serves samosas and chai at the station, the Sub Inspector at the police station or the groom’s dad. All these are not the main protagonists of the film but are used to convey a larger message. Talking of which, Laapataa Ladies is a message-heavy film. It is a social commentary along the lines of Peepli Live but talks about multiple issues like patriarchy, gender inequality, dowry, corruption, organic farming and so on.

And moments – there are many.  Like a shopkeeper schooling the groom that face is everything and covering the face is suppressing identity and so on when his wife comes and gives him his tea all clad in a burqa and covered from head to toe!

Director Kiran Rao competently handles a cast that is devoid of any big names or stars. The entire cast looks like plucked out from real life from the local region. The camera work of Vikash Nowlakha and the production design which looks real and shot on location are outstanding. The music by Ram Sampath with its BGM heavy on harmonium gives an earthy feel to the proceedings. The songs combine rustic folk and contemporary beats and are used well to move the screenplay forward.

Laapataa Ladies which means Lost Ladies is actually about ladies who are lost and found – found by themselves, found by their families and found by the society at large. The theme endears itself to more comic moments and comedy in writing which is somehow held back, in my opinion. That small quibble apart, Laapataa Ladies is a must-watch film for its simple core and storytelling. It is streaming now on Netflix.