Movie Review: Thappad

I watched Thappad last night — it came highly recommended by a friend (thank you, Aruna).

I had seen the trailer and assumed the movie would be about domestic violence. I've watched friends from educated, well-off backgrounds suffer domestic violence, so the topic is close to my heart. But this movie is really not about domestic violence.

Taapsee Pannu (Amrita) plays a devoted wife and a good daughter-in-law. Her marriage looks happy — her husband converses with her, longs for her, loves her. What more could she want?

This movie answers that question. In fact, she doesn't want anything — she's not asking for his money or house.

When her husband slaps her, he hasn't slapped her because of her. He's angry with his office colleagues; she tries to pull him away from the situation, and in a bluster he pushes her off and the slap lands. He's not angry with her. It just happened.

And the slap is both the climax and the start of her internal struggle — the beginning of an inquest into her identity. How did she become a character artist in her husband's film? How did she become a wheel in his life and happiness? How did she forget that she didn't want to be a housewife?

The movie is brilliant, with scenes showing dual points of view. Amrita sees her husband off every morning with his coffee flask — and in the same frame is Dia Mirza, her neighbor, heading off to work as an independent woman. It points to the stark reality that women are taken advantage of in all strata of society. The mode of communication and outward sophistication may differ across sections of society. Her lawyer and her maid are at two extreme ends — but both are in unjust relationships, both accepting of their footing. It takes a character like Amrita, otherwise unambitious for herself, to make them see their quandary.

Amrita's father, an adorable dad, is lacking as a husband. He never pushed his wife to pursue her talents, silently accepting her new role of mother and wife because it served his purpose. And in this lies the beauty of the movie: women need to acknowledge themselves. We have to be champions of our desires, our self-respect, our joy. We should take respect and love for our desires as a given — and speak up when they're absent from any relationship. We have to be the lead characters in our life story.

Originally published May 2020.