Laapataa Ladies Review - This satire about losing and regaining of identities by women is a heartwarming watch!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Set in 2001, in a fictional landscape by the name ‘Nirmal Pradesh’, Laapataa Ladies, which translates to ‘Lost Ladies’, is a film where women are lost, and then found, both literally and figuratively. Literally, because the plot of the film is about two young girls, who are brides who get lost because of mistaken identity. Figuratively, because the film is about women who are lost in a patriarchal society because they seldom have an identity of their own.

The two young girls at the center of the plot, Phool Kumari and Pushpa Rani/Jaya are actually diverse personalities. The former is ignorant of how she is being tricked into being a ‘respectable girl’, the society demands her to be. The latter is educated and wants to break the shackles free but is bound to chains by her family. After they are lost/swapped, Jaya calls herself Pushpa Rani. It is for obvious reasons as shown in the film. But as I said earlier, the film has a lot to say figuratively. Both Phool and Pushpa mean the same (flower). So, even a Jaya, who wants to break the shambles has to pretend to be a Pushpa (a soft flower) and keep fighting the good fight. 

Laapataa Ladies keeps saying a whole lot of things and keeps showing a mirror at the society, but it never preaches. It is all part of the film, the characters and what they speak. You keep getting philosophical lines but for the most part, these lines come across as organic and it is believable that the characters on screen would mouth these. Chhaya Kadam as Manju Maai is terrific, and she gets a lot of these lines. And all of this deeply impacting thoughts are part of this lighthearted film without changing the tone. The film has a satirical tone right through, but it is also quite emotional. You empathize with the characters. A little confused about the Manju Maai character though. At one point she says, that being happy by yourself is tough but once you master it, you don’t depend on anyone for happiness. But then she also tells at another point that she has no reason to celebrate. So, is she happy and contended, or no? She does however find a reason to celebrate in the climax of the film when she feels happy for someone. Because Manju Maai is one of the strongest characters in the film and puts forth a lot of what the film actually wants to say to women (and men), I found it a bit strange and contradicting when she says that she doesn’t have any reason to celebrate.

Bottomline

Laapataa Ladies works really well because it pulls us into its world. The satirical tone, the metaphorical messaging, the empathetic characters, the terrific performances right through by everyone and the emotional payoffs, all blend together quite nicely to give us what is a heartwarming watch.

Rating: 3.5/5

Streaming on Netflix