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Release
date:
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February 1, 2019
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Director:
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Shelly Chopra
Dhar
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Cast:
Language:
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Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao,
Juhi Chawla, Abhishek Duhan, Sara Arjun, Brijendra Kala, Seema Pahwa,
Madhumalti Kapoor, Alka Kaushik, Kanwaljit Singh, Regina Cassandra, Akshay
Oberoi
Hindi
|
(If you have seen
the trailer and followed the promotions of this film, this review contains no
spoilers for you)
What might a
conservative Hindu consider even more objectionable than the daughter of the
family marrying a Muslim man? Answer: how about the girl being in love with
another girl?
The spotlight on
this ridiculous, tragi-comic heirarchy of biases is one of the many winning
aspects of writer-director Shelly Chopra Dhar’s Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. To bracket it as simply an
LGBT-themed film or an inter-community romance would be what the protagonist
herself might call an “upar upar waali”
(superficial) reading of it though. Sure it is centred around young Sweety
Chaudhary from Moga in Punjab who has spent her life hiding her truth from
those dearest to her, but the film is not about same-gender love alone. It is
about living and loving as we choose, not allowing societal norms around age,
gender, religion or anything else to suffocate us and hamper our personal or
professional choices.
Written by Gazal
Dhaliwal and Chopra Dhar, Ek Ladki stars
Sonam Kapoor Ahuja as Sweety, Anil Kapoor as Sweety’s Dad Balbir Chaudhary,
Rajkummar Rao as the struggling playwright Sahil Mirza and Juhi Chawla as his
friend Chattro. In some ways, half the writers’ battle is won even before their
narrative kicks off. A sweetness pervades the screen as soon as Anil enters the
picture in the opening moments. After all, nostalgia is one of the most
powerful weapons in the hands of any filmmaker, and we have been primed for
this sentiment from the moment we heard of the cast and the title. How can
emotions not surge at the memory of the blockbuster song of the same name from
the legendary R.D. Burman’s very last film soundtrack, or the memory of that
film starring Anil as a young man, that same Anil who stands before us now with
a gray beard and lined face, a living breathing testament to how gracefully we
could hope to age if we treat our bodies well? And we see him now sharing space
with his real-life daughter who was a child when 1942: A Love Story was released. Bring out those handkerchiefs
already, I say.
Thankfully, Ek Ladki does not rest on these laurels.
It has a story to tell and a point – many points – to make, and it does both
without seeming crowded or preachy. This is not to say that it is
without imperfections. Far from it. The soundtrack, for one, is decidedly
average, even when it reprises Burman’s melody for its title track. And I felt
exceedingly uncomfortable with a conversation between Sweety and Sahil in which
she asks him to find other Sweetys in other towns and “usey bhi bachana” (save her/them too). This is a condescending line
for the film to take, irrespective of who is uttering the dialogue. The
marginalised do not need saviours from dominant communities, what is needed are
allies.
Besides, I could
not figure out why the trailer tried to build great mystery around the object
of Sweety’s affection, but the producers let the secret out to the press during
the promotional period, while the film itself again
tries to needlessly build up suspense just as the trailer did, although anyone
watching both closely could have seen what was coming from a mile.
Still, there is
much else to recommend Ek Ladki in an
industry where sensitivity around LGBT+ persons remains rare, a focus on
lesbian women in particular is virtually non-existent (no please, Fire is hardly a Bollywood film), and
Onir’s fabulous My Brother Nikhil and
I Am remain isolated instances of depth
on this front from Bollywood. Leading the positives in Ek Ladki is the use of the comedy genre for such grave social
commentary, and the skill the writers and director display while pulling it off
without mocking the LGBT+ community.
This becomes possible
because the strong screenplay is backed by an endearing cast. Sonam is suitably
fragile, and Kollywood/Tollywood star Regina Cassandra has an arresting screen
presence. Their equation though is overshadowed by the warm chemistry between
Sonam and Anil on the one hand, Sonam and Rao on the other. Some of this has to
do with the fact that Cassandra gets little screen time and the screenplay is
more focused on those around the central couple than the couple themselves. You
may see this as a play-it-safe approach or interpret this, as I do, as Dhaliwal
and Chopra Dhar’s way of gently breaking it to the audience that same-gender
love does not necessarily involve two cis men, contrary to what the current
dominant public discourse tells us.
At different points
in the narrative, different actors in this cracking ensemble invite the label “scene
stealers”. Rao, for one, is in top form, and the ever-loveable, ever-hilarious
Chawla’s performance begs the question why more and larger roles are not
written for her. Brijendra Kala as Chaubey Uncle and Seema Pahwa as Billo Aunty
are a hoot. Young Sweety is played with confidence and empathy by the
award-winning child star Sara Arjun, whose pan-India filmography includes her
role as Vikram’s daughter in Deiva Thirumagal
(Tamil) and the titular heroine in Ann Maria Kalippilaanu (Malayalam).
The underrated
Abhishek Duhan is impeccable as Sweety’s brother. But the lasting memory from Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is of
Anil taking a scene that could have been maudlin, insufferable and loud, and
turning it into a heart-wrenching passage of acceptance, self-realisation and
personal growth. Ek Veteran Ko Dekha Toh
Aisa Laga...
Rating (out
of five stars): ***
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CBFC Rating (India):
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UA
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Running time:
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121 minutes
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This review has also
been published on Firstpost:
Poster
courtesy:
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