Director: Anubhav Sinha
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Dia Mirza, Maya Sarrao, Geetika Vidya, Ratna Pathak Shah, Tanvi Azmi, Naila Grewal, Pavail Gulati, Kumud Mishra, Manav Kaul, Ankur Rathee, Sushil Dahiya, Ram Kapoor
Story: Anubhav Sinha, Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul
Ratings: 4 out of 5
For almost all home maker wives in India, everyday life begins with early morning alarms to pick up the newspaper delivered by the newspaper delivery man, picking up milk bottles from the doorsteps, watering the plants grown in the balcony and making tea for the family. Well, Amrita aka Amu’s (Tapasee Pannu) life is not an exception. Even before her husband, Vikram (Pavail Gulati) has left for office, Amu used to complete these tasks in a jiffy, without anyone noticing her efforts. Sinha has shown these tasks so many times in the film, at times it feels repetitive, but we realise the true face of reality. We perform such tasks every day, and they are a part of our existence.
The supporting characters are introduced in the film in a lucid flow, and the audience didn’t have to put any extra effort in understanding their roles in Amu’s life. They are Vikram’s mother (Tanvi Azmi), the house help (Geetika Vidya Ohlyan), single parent neighbour (Dia Mirza), Amu’s mother (Ratna Pathak Shah), Amu’s father (Kumud Mishra) and her lawyer (Maya Sarao). These characters are important in Amu’s life, they make Amu grow with their reservations, regrets and acceptances.
Amu’s life is simple, integrally connected with Vikram’s professional life until one night in a house party, frustrated with an upcoming project, Vikram gets into an argument with his boss and accidentally slaps her in front of all the guests. There were no arguments after that, and Amu being asked to normalize the situation as guests are present in the house. Things started to move on for everyone, except Amu. Something within keeps on hurting her – something is not acceptable to her. Vikram comes to her, hugs her and says, “You know how things have been. I was so stressed last night.’’ He didn’t apologise for his action!!
On a restaurant table, a day later, Vikram tells Amu in context to his job, “Amu, I don’t want to stay in a place where I am not valued and on a subsequent evening, he says, “Amu, I tell you, put your bloody foot down in life.’’ The story unfolds here where through Vikram’s viewpoints, Amu can visualize what was hurting her and how she can put an end to her discomfort. Self-respect it is! Thappad upholds women self-respect above all.
Women are oppressed through ages in our patriarchal society, we as women have progressed but still when we are at the receiving end, husbands like Vikram says, “Ek thappad i to tha yaar”. The film is not aggressive but controlled with acceptable expressions. Amu’s mother or mother in law have made their bit of sacrifices and left their dreams in the backburners to hold their families together. But for a woman – marriage, family, relationship are not the only factors that define her. Amu draws a line when needed – she claims she wanted only happiness and respect in her life. For her, if respect is missing in a relationship, she can no more love her husband and don’t want to be a part of such a broken relationship. Period!
‘Thappad’, a strong and hard-hitting word itself, is portrayal of a mindset which is still prevalent in our society. The time has come when we focus on gender equality. Tapasee Pannu, undoubtedly one of the best female actors Bollywood have now, has brilliantly switched gears in her performance – a happy self-contented wife to a sad betrayed wife. Pavail as Vikram is not be liked by the audience, he doesn’t understand his mistake until he signs the divorce papers. But he is relatable, his helplessness, anxietycan be felt. Kumud Mishra as Amu’s father is so emphatic, your heart reaches out to him easily. Ratna Pathak Shah as Amu’s mother and Tanvi Azmi as her mother in law have done full justice to their characters. They are compassionate yet too much worried about what society will think and say about their daughter and daughter in law respectively!! Highlights of the film are characters of younger rebels like the fierce and spirited fiancé of Amrita’s brother (Naila Grewal) and her conflicted confident lawyer (Maya Sarao) to the house help (Geetika Vidya) – they helped Amu in their own ways which in turn show a glimpseof their own stories of adjustment, sacrifice and abuses.
DirectorSinha has dealt with his story with utmost care and maturity – a sensitive topic like this deserves special attention. His earlier works, ‘Mulk’ in 2018 and ‘Article 15’ in 2019 have captured two genres effectively. Mulk – a tale of Islams and how they are looked upon by the masses and Article 15 on caste divisions and the humiliation, fights, conspiracies it brings in, make both the films noteworthy. Having said that, to me ‘Thappad’ is real, it’s a story of not one Amu, but all women who knowingly or unknowingly dealing with it on a daily basis. Time to reckon and awake!
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