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Feature Name: Thappad
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Cast: Taapsee Pannu & Pavail Gulati
Run Time: 141 minutes
Review By: Manisha Karki
The film is all about Amrita (played Taapsee Pannu), a girl who has dreams but chooses to become a house wife by her own will and is satisfied with it. She loves her husband Vikram (Pavail Gulati).
The two of them are happy and share a healthy relationship until an incident takes place in their life. At a house party Vikram slaps Amrita and from that one slap her life changes.
The question in the film is not about the Thappad that just happened by mistake but it about why did that mistake happened?
We can see that love is expressed in many forms and can be with anyone. This story is all about love and the relation between two individuals and how they choose to live their lives with their individual choices.
This film focuses on the limits of a relationship. The title ‘Thappad’, which means slap, can be felt by all through the narrative.
It starts with lovers and their choices, its shows some relations are hidden, some relations have open minded thoughts, some relations are bounded by day to day life.
Even the use of a single ‘orange candy’ will make you feel that it passes on by one to the another and at the end everything in life is at equal state.
Director Anubhav Sinha is simply beautiful with his thoughts and also when it comes to showcasing the story to the audience. He has has done a remarkable job. A topic like this which is just a simple idea can have many twist and turns in the story, it can be imagined in many forms. There is a feeling that will connect to the audience, as we are bound to live in the society that make us feel the way it is shown in the film. As an individual how one takes the story is the ultimate question.
If we talk about the background score, it goes with the film there are some minute mistakes that are covered up by the characters well. The music of the film is light. There is also a scene in the film that might disconnect you where Virkam is been explained by his boss that he has done wrong with Amrita, but we don’t feel any emotional connect between the two characters. The good part about the film is that it will not take you to a court room drama, and this might also be a part of film being extend too long.
The dialogues of the film are amazing, there is a scene in the film where when the lawyer ask her about her petition ‘so just gota slap’ and Amrita says, ‘Thappad hai magar maar nahi saktha’ you will feel respect for the character. There are also dialogues when Amrita is unsure about her decision when she ask her dad’ ‘kyaa mai sahi kar rahi hu?’ and he replies ‘Agar tera dil kheta hai ki sahi hai toh sahi hi hogaa’.
The film will also make you hate Vikram as he is shown as being self centered. In the film, there are times that will make you feel that now Vikram is going to make it, he will realise his mistake but then again the character will slap you with some good points to make him even more unforgettable.
It shows that humans are so busy in their life that they fails to take a pause an appreciate the one they love or the people around them – those who are in their life they take things for granted. In this film, you might feel that ‘sorry’ works as a consoling part. The word is small but has a high weightage, it can build and brake anyone in seconds.
If we take about the performances in the film, the best part is each and every character is hi-lighted. The audience will connect to Amrita’s story when the other characters start connect to her story in the film.
Taapsee as Amrita has done a wonderful job. She was just the character on screen. She always comes up with something new and this time you will ove watching her. Specially in the climax scene of the film when she delivers a speech, each and everyone will have multiple thoughts, questions and feeling in their minds.
Pavail Gulati has started his graph well with this film and has successfully made us hate Vikram in some scenes.
Kumud Mishra stands out as Amrita’s father. He supported his daughter so well in the film. In the end you will feel that the duo is just father-daughter goals.
Tanvi Azmi and Ratna Pathak Shah, as Amrita’s mother-in-law and mother respectively, play their roles well. They showcased the true mentality of women that are tried to suggest ‘Womens have to suffer and its okay to be like that’.
Apart from this the two lawyers Maya Sarao, who plays the high-profile lawyer Nethra and Ram Kapoor as Vikram’s lawyer has performed well. Their connection to being a lawyer and an advisor in the film is a much needed touch.
Also, Dia Mirza as a single mother shines bright in the story who supports what is true and stand with the right things. The story also showcase the domestic violence that happens around us and we still stay quite to it.
The maid in the film, who plays the character Sunita, is just amazing. You will feel her happiness and connection to the comic timing. There is a dialogue in the film when she sees Amrita getting slap and she is back home she see her husband and says, ‘Mai toh faltu mai terko gali deti hu, Marte toh sab hai’ and that punch will hit you hard.
The story has a strong impact – it is a slap on the ongoing in society and a simple issue raise that one should never have any right to beat some one even how worst the case or the situation is in life.
We with all our hearts give the film, 3.5 stars, one should watch the film for a change.
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