Laapata Ladies- Rural Women Empowered. Review on Laapataa Ladies

I recently watched this movie, and I was quite impressed with the theme of women empowerment that the movie has addressed. This is a contemporary issue and very much a part of rural India. What sets the movie apart is that, it has taken up the issue of women empowerment in a subtly humorous fashion and given it a fresh lease of life. Hats off to Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan for making this possible. The plot is not complicated, in fact it is a case of mistaken identities. Two newly wed couples are travelling by the same crowded train. The brides are wearing the same gold spangled red wedding sarees and the ghoongat or the veil has got their faces covered. This circumstance leads to chaos and confusion when the brides get swapped. Deepak, a farmer is travelling back to his village with his newly wed wife, Phool Kumari. He is dozing and when they arrive at the destination, its dark and crowded and in the rush to leave, he disembarks with the wrong bride, at the railhead for their village. Phool Kumari is left behind in the train with the other groom, Pradeep. Deepak and his bride are welcomed by the villagers but are shocked when they realize that Deepak has brought home the wrong bride. Pushpa, rises up to the occasion, giving them a false name and by lying about her background. Phool kumari on the other hand, is at a different station and after realizing the mix-up, approaches the station master for help. He is unable to help her as she is ignorant about the name of Deepak's village. She refuses to go back home as she does not want to bring shame to her family. This is in compliance with the tradition that once the bride is given away in marriage to another family, she has to build her life around her groom and not return to her parents. Phool kumari decides to stay at the station with the hope that one day she will be united with Deepak when he will come looking for her. Phool, turns feisty and starts to work at the tea stand helping Manju Mai in making kalakand and becoming independent and enterprising. This must not have been easy for Phool, who has led a life overprotected by her parents and not being worldly wise. Pushpa on the other hand becomes friendly with Deepak's family. Deepak, frantically looking for Phool, files a report with the sub-inspector, Shyam Manohar. Pushpa, comes under the police net when Manohar surmises that she belongs to a gang of thieves. He follows her and finds her movements suspect when he sees her selling jewellery, using a mobile phone and buying bus tickets. He then arrests her, when he finds her using a false name and that her real name is Jaya. Jaya clears the air by saying that she was forcefully married to Pradeep and that he was abusive towards her. She avers that she does not want to return to him. In fact, she reveals that she was not interested in the marriage and that she wanted to do a course in "organic farming" in Dehradun. Pradeep also ends up in the police station looking for Jaya. In the ensuing altercation, he slaps Jaya in front of all the cops and threatens to recover the full dowry from her mother. Manohar now feels that Jaya is innocent and takes action against Pradeep. He tells him that his actions constitute an offence and that Jaya is an adult and that she is free to do as she pleases, and cannot be forced to go with anyone. He further warns him saying that if he lays hands on Jaya again he will be booked for domestic violence. Phool's story also ends on a happy note. Jaya, we find is enterprising in her own way, when she asks Deepak's sister-in-law Poonam to make a sketch of Phool and had made posters out of it. They then had them stuck in public places with the contact details in case she is found. With the help of these posters Phool is finally able to make her way back to Deepak's family and reunite with Deepak. This then is the story of women from the villages and how they shape their destinies against all odds, in their own way. Laaapata Ladies has shown how there is still hope in the world against apparent negativity and that how innate generosity and goodness of heart can go a long way in shaping lives.