We stood up. We leaned in. We shattered the glass ceiling. And now, a hidden gem from auteur Kiran Rao serves as a pertinent reminder to lean on each other instead. Indeed, in a landscape littered with larger-than-life action capers and star-studded ensembles, Laapataa Ladies (2024) managed to fetch applause across the country and at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The premise? An unassuming imagination of the chaos and hilarity that would ensue if two newlywed brides were accidentally exchanged on a passenger train.
“It felt like I had never been away,” says Rao crisply, already foreseeing the question hovering in the air on her return to the directorial chair since Dhobi Ghat (2011).
The story is now well-established as industry lore: when co-producer Aamir Khan first read the tale, Two Brides by Biplab Goswami at a script writing competition, Rao felt the wheels beginning to turn. She decided to further double down by eschewing established names in favour of fresh faces. “For me, the story lent itself to a fresh imagining of village life. I felt that new actors would bring the charm and
authenticity I wanted. Aamir, as a producer, fortunately felt the same way and gave me the freedom to cast whoever I felt was right for the part,” she narrates.
Her quest for these fresh faces would lead her to Pratibha Ranta as Pushpa Rani alias Jaya Singh and Nitanshi Goel as Phool Kumari. And while the duo might be damsels, they certainly know how to take charge of their distress. Ranta agrees, “When I was reading the initial pages for the audition, I could see my character as a survivor. She was perplexed about where she had landed up, but going by the way she was tackling every situation, I knew she was going to come out of it strong.”
Goel echoes the sentiment. “Within the first few scenes of Phool in the script, I felt so deeply connected to her innocence and optimism. Her ‘find yourself’ story makes you realise that she is a fighter who doesn’t blame anyone for the predicament she is in while also being brave enough to face challenges head-on,” she smiles.
For Rao, it was also crucial to explore different depictions of female characters and the tough-as-nails Manju Mai serves as one of her primary contributions to the script. “I asked for the dadi’s character in the original story to be changed to an independent woman. It felt important to have a strong female figure who proves that it was—and is—possible to live on one’s own terms,” she says.
And the nuances don’t end there. Rao also ensured that Deepak’s grandmother and mother ascend beyond the conventional saas-bahu fare fed to moviegoers over the decades. In a moving scene, the duo delight over the newfound addition of feminine energy to their household while hoping that their real daughter-in-law would be able to serve as a friend beyond just shouldering her responsibilities as a bahu.
Looking forward, what change needs to happen to explore more of these nuanced portrayals of womanhood in cinema? “It will happen naturally if we include a diverse set of storytellers in our writing rooms and on our sets. The participation of women in the industry is very low in general—especially in creative decision-making roles, like producers and directors. Better representation will always pave the way for different perspectives and better stories,” Rao signs off.
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