Laapataa Ladies movie review: Returns Cinema’s Lost Soul!

Laapataa Ladies movie review: Returns Cinema’s Lost Soul!

What: Laapataa Ladies - Perhaps the Best Film in 2024. Director Kiran Rao puts a newly married young couple on a train, separates them and then turns to an audience exhausted from watching toxic cinema, defeated and deafened by sound effects and proceeds to touch every cynical heart to mush until they find themselves crossing their fingers and eyes and toes for the two to be reunited.

That’s magic. And this film simply oozes with it. As they say,’Audience aur film ke chhattis gun milte hain!’

Laapataa Ladies movie review

Let’s start at the very beginning. The groom, Deepak Kumar. Played by an unknown actor named Sparsh Srivastava. If he didn’t look at his newly married bride the way he did during the wedding and help her into the train (even get her a place to sit in the train), I would have said the lad is likeable because he has dimples. But when you look at the young bride, aptly named ‘Phool’ you too turn into Deepak, look at her as though you want to love her and protect her and keep her with you for saat janams! Nitanshi Goel’s bio lists her as a social media influencer (makes you instantly cringe wondering if she makes those awful videos) and an actor, and although her film and tv series list is long, I must admit, I have never noticed her, until now. And boy, does Phool make me want to check out her gram and follow her.

Indian Weddings are all about the family, right? Time to fall in love with Phool’s Saas, Bhabhi and Dadi Saas played by the irrepressible Geeta Aggarwal, Rachna Gupta and Kirti Jain. Deepak’s father, grandfather are just so lovable you wish critics going gaga over the nostalgia bhel in a recently released film would have left some superlatives left in their arsenal, because Kiran Rao swings it out of the park with grandpa’s transistor radio begin to play Akashwani’s signature tune as everyone gets served morning tea. Brava!

So the story. Deepak marries Phool and stays over for two days at Phool’s home because of a puja, then begins a long journey on scooter to the train towards home. In the train there are many newly married couples, and every bride is covered in similar veils. The journey is long and tiring and Deepak wakes a sleeping bride and brings her home. This is the big mix up (not a spoiler because you have seen this in the film trailer). This is our introduction to Pushpa (or is she Jaya?), played by Pratibha Ratna, who has acted in the Zee TV show Qurbaan Hua and Aadha Ishq. Pushpal makes you wonder if she’s part of a gang that loots the groom’s party…

At every wedding there is that uncle and a mausi who make an impression. In this film, the credit goes to Ravi Kishen who plays Inspector Shyam Manohar and his sidekicks Dubeyji (Durgesh Kumar) and Sports Quota wali Belaji (Kanupriya Rishimum). Ravi Kishen simply gets better with every role he plays. And the swag he has when he puts on those dark glasses! Bahute badhiya! And yes, the incredible Chhaya Kadam. Chhaya Kadam is such a fabulous actor, she makes you believe that she doesn’t eat anything meetha because ‘her life hasn't given her any reason to’. But I wanted to jump into the scene and hug her when she said (and I paraphrase): My husband used to live off me and beat me, insisting that loving her gave him a haq to beat her. So one day I too used that haq and kicked him out of my home.’

Chhaya is Manju, tea and snack stall owner who shelters Phool who is left stranded at the railway station. How the stranded Phool and Deepak meet with the help of the station master, the cops and more is the best thing you will see on the big screen. There’s no animal aggression, no dull regurgitation of the good ole days, no cops who beat up a thousand baddies. Just pure storytelling with some biting sarcasm hidden in plain sight swathed in humour.