Laapataa Ladies Movie Review: A gentle but intriguing roller coaster where Ravi Kishan steals the show

Imagine getting married to a man you barely know and getting lost before you even reach his house, which will be your future home. Now imagine being the man who lost his bride a day after the wedding. That’s not the most relatable situation for several people of this generation living in metropolitan cities. But it is quite a quirky and unexplored concept for a movie. Well, Kiran Rao decided to tell this story in her second directorial titled Laapataa Ladies, starring Sparsh Shrivastava, Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta along with Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam. Ahead of the theatrical release on 1st March, read on to know our honest review.

The journey begins with newlyweds Deepak and Phool, played by Sparsh and Nitanshi, traveling to Nirmal Pradesh from latter’s maayeka. They take the bus before boarding a train which has several other newly married couples, all the brides hidden behind ghoongats. They reach Deepak’s village and are welcomed by his loving family. But their worlds are turned upside down when Deepak’s bride lifts up her veil and introduces herself as Pushpa Rani, portrayed by the beautiful Pratibha. Deepak rushes back to the station but Phool is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile Phool gets off at another train station with a man who lost his newlywed wife on the same train.

Deepak continues his search for Phool whereas the latter finds solace and a job at Manju maai’s tea stall on the same station she got off. Pushpa, on the other hand, leaves the audience along with Inspector Shyam Manohar from Murti Thana, played by Ravi, intrigued with her strange behaviour. However, she wins Deepak’s best friend and family over. All in all, the film leaves you wondering if Deepak and Phool will ever reunite. Also, what’s Pushpa’s story? Well, we won’t be sharing any spoilers here. But what we can disclose in this review is that this journey is a rollercoaster ride which leaves you on the edge of your seat.

The concept is crystal clear and intriguing. What’s brilliant is the way it gently and subtly discusses several social evils such as patriarchy, domestic abuse, dowry and corruption. In between we also see a beautiful love story between a husband and wife who had dreams of living their happily ever after together, but were separated before it even began. The music, direction and camera angles also deserve a special mention. However, we do wish a few dialogues were more audible and clear. Coming to the show stealer– Ravi Kishan nails his character of Inspector Shyam Manohara. He initially seems like a greedy, orthodox and corrupt cop. But there’s so much more to him. The way his real personality comes through as the story progresses deserves a standing ovation. Ravi truly is a chameleon who doesn’t play but actually lives every character given to him on-screen. Hats off to lead stars Sparsh, Pratibha and Nitanshi as well, who give us real and convincing performances.

So, is this film really worth your time? Absolutely. Laapataa Ladies is one cinematic experience that you shouldn’t miss. It gives you a chance to get lost in another world, which is much simpler than ours. And isn’t that really the point of entertainment?