Thappad - A Review
Taapsee’s acting is wonderful. So believable,
so realistic and it prods us so much to think. I admired how she could act to
be so vulnerable and yet so strong. The slap scene when she just goes numb and
confused to as what has happened around her, is deep. And the days passing by,
as she tries to deal with the memory of the humiliation, the blow to her worth
in the household, her near and dear ones, especially women and younger brother
telling her to just move on. Forgive and forget. Let it go. And all this while,
Vikram, the once sweet husband, refuses to see that he needs to apologize and
acknowledge that it was his fault. And that its not cool to slap your wife,
whatsoever be the reason. He stoops down to reasoning his state of mind, and
his excuses for it, instead of just saying sorry and meaning it.
Along with Taapsee, there are some amazing
ensemble of characters in the movie, whose lives are entwined with her. Lovely
characters. I loved Diya Mirza’s characters, I’m bad with remembering names. To
a simple question her daughter asked after the incident—had father ever hurt
you?—she says no, your father was an amazing man, he’s never ever hurt me—and she
explains to Amrita (Taapsee’s character) how things with him were so
effortless, maintaining a relationship, and how after his death she was sufficient
in herself and she didn’t need a relationship to survive or take care of her
daughter. How she gives a hug to Amrita, as she needed it the most, then.
Amrita’s father was one of the best father
portrayals I have seen on screen- at par with ‘Yeh meri Family Hai’ – the TVF
web series. His shouting at his son for mistreating his girlfriend, made me
mouth a ‘Wow!’. His remembering the piece of poetry, the couplet along with his
wife, was adorable. His getting sick, since his daughter was hurt was oh so
dear. He’s such a lovable father, and makes us believe that men are amazing
people. Respectable and admirable. And so many more characters- Netra, the
lawyer who fights for women’s rights but her own life is broken; the house help
who is so used to domestic violence that she thinks it’s normal.
The one thing about ‘Thappad’ that I admired a
lot is its narrative and how in certain scenes the lack of dialogues sufficed
and made the audience ponder on similar details of their lives. The repetition of
the scenes showing how repetitive daily life is and how we find our peace and
normality in this routine. The background score has become my recent favorite.
And the lack of songs, except one core song, ‘Ek Tukda Dhoop’, heightened my
experience of watching this beautifully narrated movie, where characters are just
humane, not showed in the light of evil or good, just people who err and realize
much later, due to the patriarchal conditioning they are exposed to unconsciously
since their tender years. And I have
listened to this particular song on loop ever since.
Though the end can be unacceptable for some, it
fitted well for me, as a story, as a befitting ending, or rather starting of
another fresh chapter in life, for both of them. With the hope of a second
chance, of reconciliation when both are ready. Or of new turn of events.
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