(A review by Sakshi Bansal)
“Just a thappad but nahi maar sakta.” – a statement that resonated with thousands of people, ushering a new era of independence and courage.
For me, Thappad is an art movie, filled with meanings, hard hitting realities and simple logic that loses its way out of a woman’s mouth. The subtlety and nuance with which Anubhav Sinha has depicted this story paves its way through your hearts. The perfect wording and the simplicity of this movie’s soundtrack became a perfect background to this tale.
The movie begins on a lighter note, following the lives of 3-4 characters simultaneously. Tapsee portrays the character of Amrita beautifully, displaying both the cheerful, jolly side and the confused, dismayed side with equal dedication and energy. The tone of the movie follows the same pattern, with light joyful music, ‘Dancing in the Sun’ and pastel colour patterns in the initial half to the confused, anxious tune of ‘Ek Tukda Dhoop’ with conflicting emotions in the second half.
What I loved about the movie were the subtle nudges that impacted me so much more than the perky, preachy movies shouting their message out loud. Dia Mirza’s character showed us the idealistic woman we dream of. The relationship that she has with her daughter filled my heart with love, and envy at the same time. Amrita’s father was a dream come true, a total green flag and evidently, the source of Amu’s bravery. All these characters, despite their screen time, create a lasting impact on their viewers. I also loved how the director showed the development of the characters through props that would often go unnoticed. For example, one can note how Tapsee’s character expressed her wish to learn driving and her husband quickly dismissing the idea by saying, “Pehle tum sahi se paratha banana to seekh lo!”. The scene was an easygoing banter between the two but a remarkable hit on her self-respect only if you notice the underlying details. This movie is all about one and only thing — perspective. Later, in the movie, we see Amrita driving away in a car; if this scene isn’t a personal victory, what is?
With the way the movie has managed to convince me of what is wrong with our society’s thinking and norms, I want to give it 5 stars. This mindset is real. The emotions and the agony that Vikram portrays is believable too. I can see why someone would feel annoyed when their wife wants to rip their whole life out on “just a slap”. I can also see why a slap could ignite a whirlwind of emotions for Amrita.
There were moments in the film that stood out to me. It includes the scene when Amrita confronts Vikram’s family. Another scene was when Amrita starts to clean her whole house and ends up having a breakdown. Her inner conflict came across perfectly through that scene. The argument that Vikram’s boss gave in favour of Amrita explaining how if he can’t hit his boss, he can’t hit his wife was another such moment.
The best part about the movie is that not everyone agrees with the premise. I’ve heard people defend Vikram and I’ve seen people side with Amrita too. And I don’t want to express my views here or side with an argument, but just the fact that this movie hopefully started this conversation, in women’s minds, in households and in society, is enough to make this movie a great one. The movie is not about a slap, but everything that the slap signifies and the mere difference between ego and self-respect. The ego of justifying your actions instead of apologising, and the ego of thinking about the consequences of your actions instead of the reasons.
The movie can be a drama created out of a slap for you, it can be about the mere self-respect and the viewpoint of any woman in society, it can be about domestic violence or inter-marital relations for others, it can trigger different emotions, thoughts, opinions in you based on your personal experiences, but one thing I can vouch for is that this movie is definitely not just about a slap.
Tabeer 