Movie review: 'Laapataa Ladies' by Kiran Rao, a delightful rural satire

Gulf News

When you take a 14-year sabbatical from directorship, like how Kiran Rao did, you aren’t wholly wrong in wondering whether she still has that Midas touch to make a stirring film. But such conventional fears feel completely unfounded when you watch a delightful, perfectly cast comedy like ‘Laapataa Ladies’.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/film-review-kiran-raos-laapataa-ladies-is-a-charming-satire-set-in-rural-india-1.101355132  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #KiranRao #LaapataaLadies

Transcript

00:00Lapata Ladies, which means lost ladies, led by a bunch of obscure talents, I mean they're not led by bankable stars,

00:08but by very talented crew, reminds you that good things happen to good people.

00:16Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan. I'm the entertainment editor of Gulf News.

00:21I'm here with the review of Lapata Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao. She's back in the

00:26director's chair after a gap of nearly 14 years. You might wonder whether she's lost the midas

00:31touch or the golden touch, but you have nothing to worry because Lapata Ladies, which means lost

00:36ladies, led by a bunch of obscure talents, I mean they're not led by bankable stars, but by very

00:44talented crew, reminds you that good things happen to good people. It's one of those very sweet,

00:51benign and delightful films that you can think of that has released of late. It's not violent,

00:56it's not dark, it's not too complex and it's not cringy either. So, that makes it a very

01:01delightful watch. What worked for me is the clean humour and smart writing. If you look at it,

01:06like there are so many movies, comedies that happen with like double meaning jokes etc. In

01:11this one, it's a very clean film. It's beautifully benign and delightful because the humour is said

01:17in a very poker-faced manner. I mean, it's not exaggerated humour. It's a satire that really has

01:23your heart. In fact, this movie is not led by bankable stars and especially in a Hindi film

01:29industry where we kind of like, you know, give khans and the kumars a lot of importance, it's

01:35lovely to see a movie that's not led by big names but great talents propel a narrative forward.

01:42Kiran Rao handles complex themes like gender disparity, patriarchy and feminism with a flair.

01:48I mean, you know, it's quite admirable. These are very complex issues but she handles them

01:53into tiny nuggets, into very palatable nuggets. They make you smile and of course, there are some

01:58very seasoned actors as well in this. See, the movie does not have big names like I said. It has

02:03actors like Nitanshi Goyal, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Srivastav etc. These names may not

02:11ring a bell. You may have to even google them but what sets them apart is their good acting.

02:15They're very convincing as these set of rural people who are just confused and they don't know

02:23what to do when there's a case of mistaken brides and you know, a bride is swapped. It's a case of

02:29mistaken identities getting home the wrong bride. The scenario is hilarious and Kiran Rao makes sure

02:34that she never deals with it with a very heavy hand. There are actors like Ravi Krishan who's

02:40really brilliant in the role of an officer, a smarmy and a crafty police officer. His face is

02:47deadpan as he delivers his witty one-liners and that's what makes this movie fun. I mean,

02:52the jokes are not on the nose, the feminism and those gender disparity and themes, complex themes

02:58like that are not on the nose. The movie never gets didactic. So that's what is one of the best

03:03parts about this film and if you also look at Kiran Rao, I think one of the best parts about

03:08her is that she's a very intelligent filmmaker but she made an intelligent film without making

03:12it overly simplistic as well. Even characters like played by Chhaya Kadam who's like a natural

03:19boss lady. She plays the character of Manju. She's very surly but she's also like this paragon of

03:25feminism. She gives a crash course on how women should be financially independent. Now these are

03:30very simple, perhaps we know that you know these themes make sense but the way Kiran Rao has dealt

03:37with it, it's quite impressive. It's very entertaining and engaging as well. One of the

03:42gripes I have about this movie is that you know the good things happen to good people. After a

03:47point, you kind of like suspend belief like is there so much goodness in the world but then if

03:52you're willing to suspend belief for that bit, thinking that you know we live in a world where

03:56goodness actually thrives, then there's a lot to love about Lapata ladies. I mean the women are

04:01not lost. They may begin their journey as being slightly lost but it's also about

04:08coming of age, it's about finding their way, it's about women finding their voice as well and even

04:14the parts where women find sisterhood in a village is very, very neatly shown. This movie had my heart

04:20because it kind of employs the KISS technique that's often taught in journalism schools, that

04:25is keep it simple and stupid. This movie doesn't keep it stupid most of the time but it definitely

04:30keeps it simple without making it overly simplistic. So I really enjoyed this movie for its

04:35heart. If you're kind of done with watching violent and dark movies, then Lapata ladies without

04:40A-listers or without big names kind of has your heart. It's a small movie, it's a well-made movie

04:46and it's got themes that really has your heart and I think in the run-up to the Women's Day,

04:51every woman and man out there should watch this movie. Another thing I thought was like the way

04:57Kiran Rao has presented the men. I mean they're not wimps, they're vulnerable Deepu that is played

05:03by Srivastava. He does such a good job. I mean he is masculine but he's not hyper masculine.

05:09He's very vulnerable, he's equally beating himself up for bringing home the wrong bride etc

05:14and even the family members are very relatable. Even if it's set in rural India, I think every

05:20person whether you live in a metropolis or the villages will identify with this movie because

05:24the story is the real hero and not the names. I've gone with 3.5 out of 5. For our full review,

05:30go to gulfnews.com and tell us what you think of this movie.

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