thappad
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Pavail Gulati, Dia Mirza
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Thappad, as the film’s title so unequivocally suggests, is about a blow. A slap that lands an otherwise amiable, good-natured man on his wife’s face in a moment of misdirected rage. In defense, it is the first time he raises his hand to her. In his defense, he has just discovered that the professional goal he had cherished, for which he had toiled and achieved, has been unjustly taken away from him. In his defense, it happened in the heat of battle. For his wife, no defense can justify the blow. It changes everything. It practically dismantles her life.
In setting up this premise, director Anubhav Sinha, who co-wrote the film with Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul, repeatedly asks us to consider whether, as everyone around her suggests, Amrita (Taapsee Pannu) should let it go and move on. to go. It shouldn’t have happened, but “ab ho gaya na?” her husband Vikram (Pavail Gulati) complains. Her mother-in-law (Tanvi Azmi), with whom she has a loving relationship, says: “Thoda bardaasht karna seekhna chahiye auraton ko.”
Her own mother (Ratna Pathak Shah) is distraught that she is considering a divorce. Her brother describes it as “a minor episode”, saying “it’s foolish” that she takes it that far. Her widowed neighbor (Dia Mirza) delivers that ultimate guilt trap: “Rishte banane mein utni effort nahin lagti jitna nibhane mein lagti hai.” Even her lawyer (Maya Sarao) advises her to go back and make it work.
The film, and the slap in the middle of it, isn’t about domestic violence. It’s about the law. It’s about decades of conditioning. It’s about flawed social structures and outdated gender expectations. In Robert Altman-esque fashion, the film opens with a charming sequence in which an orange popsicle is used as a motif to introduce various characters, before learning how each fits into the main character’s orbit. Patriarchy and rights run deep; Amrita is not the only victim.
There is the poor domestic worker who is regularly beaten by her husband. There is the older woman, outraged that her loving husband never encouraged her to pursue her love of singing after marriage. There’s the soon-to-be young couple, seemingly equal in their relationship, until a tense interaction proves otherwise. There is also the seasoned professional whose husband repeatedly attributes her success to his family’s powerful connections.
When Vikram slaps Amrita, each of these relationships unravels.
The film’s premise is clever, and Amrita’s escalating response to the blow is put together in such a way that you’re often forced to ask, “Isn’t she going too far?” or “She doesn’t have to make such a big deal of it, does she?”
The answer to those questions can be found in Vikram’s undeniably selfish way of dealing with the situation.
But the point is – and this is the key – there are no easy answers here. The husband is not a villain. Vikram is selfish, entitled, conditioned to put himself and his own pride before his wife, but he is not a villain. He is just any other Indian man. Knowing that puts you back with the same question: “Isn’t she exaggerating?” Don’t be ashamed if you lean dangerously close to a yes answer; it is exactly the position Sinha wants you to take. In fact, in a masterstroke of scripting, he raises the bet halfway through, putting the couple in such a situation that you’re now thinking, ‘Okay, this is too much. She has to let it go.”
But Thappad is not a film about a woman teaching her husband not to take her for granted. It is about a woman who rediscovers her sense of self and thinks about what is fair and what is not. It’s about no longer ignoring the entrenched sexism and selfishness, and the casual callousness that women have to deal with every day. If this sounds like activism or a social message disguised to look like a movie, it honestly isn’t. You are very involved in Amrita’s story. She is the fulcrum of Vikram’s uppercrust home in Delhi; she is a supportive wife and a caring daughter-in-law.
In a poignant moment, she points out that the sacrifice of any woman who chooses to be a housewife can be understood by the simple fact that no girl, when asked what she wants to be when she grows up, says “housewife.”
In a film so well made, minor flaws stand out. The second hour feels stretched. The estrangement of Vikram and his mother from his very wealthy father and brother is confusing. But these are minor niggles. Sinha draws a complex story and pulls notable performances from his ensemble, justifying even those in small roles like Ram Kapoor and Manav Kaul.
Of the main cast, Maya Sarao gives a sharp edge to the role of Amrita’s conflicted lawyer, and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan is great as her chatty domestic help. Dia Mirza is nicely subdued as her neighbor, and both Ratna Pathak Shah and Tanvi Azmi are expected to be in good shape. Kumud Mishra stands out as Amrita’s supportive father, who strikes the right note and is aided by some of the film’s most charged phrases. Pavail Gulati, in the difficult role of the husband, basically plays him as if he has no idea of his own shortcomings; it is a competent performance in a nuanced role.
Which brings us to the axis of the movie, Taapsee Pannu. In a refreshing change of image, her Amrita isn’t the fierce, woman-in-warpath she often plays. She is a woman torn apart, she has both strength and vulnerability; it is a beautifully realized performance. The script gives her some great moments to shine, and she grabs them. I was a mess by the time Amrita had that honest, hurtful conversation with her mother-in-law towards the end of the movie.
I’m going with four out of five for Thappad. It’s a difficult subject to finish, but Anubhav Sinha achieves it with top-notch stories. The best films inspire dialogue, they make you think; they can even lead to change. This one made me uncomfortable; it made me doubt myself and i think you will too. Watching is essential.
Rating: 4/5