Happy New Years! And to my Indian patrons, Jai Hind! Welcome to another review of the week and the first of the year. The film up for review is none other than Laapataa Ladies! This gem took me on a rabbit hole adventure through India’s culture. The film satirizes the culture surrounding the wedding sari and the women who wear them. Everything about it was perfect, the story, the cast, and especially the soundtrack. However, after watching the film for the first time I had so many questions. Now let’s get it!

The story takes place in Nirmal Pradesh, India in 2001 at the height of scamming brides and Nokia brick cell phones. The background story is that there is a group of women robbing wedding jewels on the loose known as the Chandpur Bride Gang; now enter Phool and Pushpa, two brides on a train who briefly swapped lives.

I love the magical logic of film because no matter what the show must go on, but in real life this story could have gone very wrong. Which leads me to my first pain point: Pusha’s decision to stay silent throughout the whole trip to Deepak’s home. I understand that she needed to get away from her husband, but couldn’t she have alerted him to the fact the she is not in fact his wife before getting home? She could have been like, ‘Bro, thanks for getting me this far. Just to let you know I’m not her,” and she could have gone on her merry way. They transferred multiple times before reaching his village, and the longer she hid that fact the more danger Phool was in.

Phool lived a sheltered life, uninitiated to the full capacity of exactly how cruel the world around her is. She could have easily become one of the girls we hear about lost to prostitution. I can’t be too mad at Pusha though her fate wouldn’t have been any better being married to that beast of a man. She would have probably met the same fate as his previous wife.

That leads me to my next pain point: the way women are treated like objects. I do not subscribe to the radical feminist idea that women don’t need men. That is foolish. Men and women working together for the good of society is the height of perfection as the late and great Mya Angelou says, but many of the feminist’s grievances are valid. I am also not here to criticize India’s culture too much because my own is no better. But it says something when a woman is branded like cattle with their husband’s name on their wedding day. Some would say that I have a Western way of thinking, but should it be labeled Western to desire to be treated like a human being with intrinsic value?

Further, the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and Pushpa simply wanted to expand hers. Her mother refused to allow her to attend school because she no longer believed farming was the way. Instead, she decided sending her daughter to almost certain death would be their salvation. She must have known something was up; a community like that talks, so the rumor mill must have been a buzz. How desperate was she to believe this was the best decision? No, I’m not saying school is a panacea for all poverty-ridden situations — we’ve all heard of the jobless graduate. But education would have been the best decision for Pushpa’s case.

Now it’s no secret India has a caste system that restricts upward movement and even marriage between levels. Apparently, it’s crass to ask which level one’s family is from, but the film already pokes fun at the culture, so I’m just going to say it: bro had a lot of time to sit around and boo hoo. So that must mean he comes from wealth or at least his family has money. From the looks of him, I’d say Vaishyas. The Vaishyas are traders, farmers, and/or moneylenders. I say all this because in real life would he really be like this?

Of course, the shame of losing his blushing bride would be on his mind, but who has time like that unless you have money? The family is sustained by their large farm; it was Pushpa’s knowledge of natural bug repellent that stopped them from killing their crops with pesticides. That being said this leads me to my final pain point: Maai. India isn’t known for its love for women, and it’s evident in her opinion of Phool’s husband. Her exact words were, “He’s had his fun, taken your jewels and dumped you.” Why would he come back for her? I don’t blame Maai for her negative sentiment towards men.

She was beaten and used by her useless husband and son. Life robbed her of her joy and vitality. Leaving her with a bitter taste in her mouth, it’s no surprise she refused to eat Phool’s dessert. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but when Maai finally ate Phool’s dessert I believe it brought a small spark of goodness back into her life. And maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, but I felt Maai’s tears when Phool finally went home.

My favorite character has to be Inspector Manohar hands down. His sense of humor is unmatched, he may be greedy but he’s good at his job. But most importantly he is an honorable man. He saved Pushpa’s life went he sent that rat on his merry way.

I’ve been too generous with these lately, but I think Laatapaa Ladies genuinely deserves it. My verdict is a fresh rose out of Quing Mirai’s private garden. Let me know if you disagree or not, and why.