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The movie starts with an eve teasing scene where Soni reacts violently and the gentle Kalpana, who is her boss, reprimands her
It was one of those long drawn evenings when you are wondering what to watch and the movie Soni appeared in my Netflix suggestions. Soni is an 2018 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film edited and directed by debutant Ivan Ayr and stars Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Saloni Batra. Written by Ayar and Kislye, the film chronicles the life of a police officer and her superintendent in Delhi Police who deal with the cases regarding crimes against women.
Soni is about two women police officers, Kalpana and Soni. Kalpana is the boss, very gentle yet with a mind of her own. Though she is a senior police officer and also the wife of a senior police officer, she is slightly subservient to him and willing to stretch an extra mile to placate him but still manages to hold her own.
Soni is not of the officer rank. She is grappling with a broken marriage and a wounded psyche, and she is always angry. Lewd comments, male entitlement and male patriarchy make her lose reason!
It starts with an eve teasing scene where Soni reacts violently and the gentle Kalpana, who is her boss, reprimands her but the underlying care and the soft corner for her stand out in spite of the harsh words spoken. Soni lives in a middle-class housing society in a one-bedroom flat. Small vignettes of her life are shown like her watering the green plants, praying to a small deity and her flat is a bare basic flat with no adornment.
Her simmering anger remains on the surface, ready to burst like a volcano and the hurt she hides behind her aggressive demeanour is delineated. There is a stark contrast between Soni’s solitary pariah like existence and Kalpana’s beautifully decorated house where she lives with her husband and a cantankerous mother in law. There is also a house who is available at her beck and call.
Though Kalpana also gets to hear about her state of childlessness and how time is running out for her if she wants to have a baby but she never responds verbally. Her eyes give away her hurt as though she has internalised her pain. Both change as the movie progresses, but the gentle Kalpana will always remain close to my heart.
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.” ― Ralph Sockman
Image via Netflix
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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