Laapataa Ladies

Laapataa Ladies is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Kiran Rao, and produced by Rao, Aamir Khan, and Jyoti Deshpande. It stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan, and tells the story of two young newly-wed brides who get exchanged during a train ride to their husband's homes.

The film was screened at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on 8 September 2023, and was theatrically released on 1 March 2024. The film opened to positive reviews from critics and audience and was praised for its story, screenplay and cast performances.

Plot
In 2001, in the fictional Nirmal Pradesh, Deepak, a farmer, is travelling back to his village with his new bride, Phool Kumari. They get into a crowded passenger train along with many other newlywed couples. The brides all wear the same-coloured bridal attire with their faces completely covered with a ghoonghat (veil), as is the tradition. Deepak dozes off and wakes up in the night to realise that he has arrived at his destination. In the darkness and confusion from the rush to leave, he disembarks with the wrong bride and Phool is left behind on the train with the other groom, Pradeep.

The couple is welcomed by his family only to be shocked when they realise it is the wrong bride. She gives them a false name Pushpa and lies about where she is from. Meanwhile, at a different station, Phool realises the mixup but the station master is unable to help her due to her not knowing the name of Deepak's village. She also refuses to go back home, not wanting to bring shame to her family. She decides to stay at the station in case Deepak comes looking, and is helped by Manju Mai, who runs a tea stall on the platform.

Deepak, frantically looking for Phool, files a report with SI Shyam Manohar. Manohar surmises that Pushpa may be a thief. He follows her and sees her sell jewellery, use a mobile phone, and buy bus tickets. Pushpa becomes friendly with Deepak's family. Phool meanwhile works at the tea stand, helping Manju Mai, makes kalakand and learns to be independent.

Thinking that Pushpa belongs to a gang of thieves, Manohar arrests her when he learns that her real name is Jaya. Jaya reveals that she wanted to do a course on organic farming in Dehradun, but was forcefully married off to Pradeep by her family, and also that Pradeep was abusive towards her so she does not want to return.

Pradeep arrives at the police station for Jaya. He slaps her in front of the cops and threatens to recover the full dowry from her mother. Manohar states that his actions constitute an offence, and since Jaya is an adult, she cannot be forced to go with anyone. He frees Jaya, warning Pradeep that if he ever lays his hands on Jaya, he would arrest him for domestic violence and also for burning his previous wife to death.

Jaya had asked Deepak's sister-in-law Poonam to make a sketch of Phool and had made posters out of it, sticking them around public places mentioning that she is lost, along with contact details in case she is found. With the help of this, Phool is finally able to find her way back and reunite with Deepak, while Jaya leaves for Dehradun to pursue her education.

Cast

 * Nitanshi Goel as Phool Kumari
 * Pratibha Ranta as Jaya Tripathi Singh / Pushpa Rani
 * Sparsh Shrivastav as Deepak Kumar
 * Chhaya Kadam as Manju Maai
 * Ravi Kishan as Sub-Inspector Shyam Manohar
 * Geeta Agrawal Sharma as Yashoda, Deepak's mother
 * Satendra Soni as Chhotu
 * Abeer Jain as Bablu, Deepak's nephew
 * Bhaskar Jha as Pradeep Singh
 * Daood Hussain as Gunjan
 * Durgesh Kumar as Dubey Ji
 * Pankaj Sharma as Deepak's father
 * Kanupriya Rishimum as Bela
 * Sanjay Dogra as Murti
 * Shad Mohamad as Hanif
 * Ravi Kapadiya as Abdul
 * Vivek Sawrikar as Station Master
 * Rachna Gupta as Poonam Kumari
 * Pranjal Pateriya as Raghu
 * Samarth Mayor as Bilas
 * Abhay Dubey as Prisoner

Production
This is Kiran Rao's second directorial venture after Dhobi Ghat (2010). The film's co-producer Aamir Khan discovered the story Two Brides, by Biplab Goswami, at a script writing competition. The film was shot on location in Bamuliya and Dhamankheda (Dhankhedi) villages in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. Local villagers were cast as secondary characters and the film was shot in actual houses in the area.

Soundtrack
The music of the film was composed by Ram Sampath to lyrics written by Divyanidhi Sharma, Prashant Pandey and Swanand Kirkire.

Release
Laapataa Ladies was released in theatres on 1 March 2024. Yash Raj Films acquired global distribution rights for the film.

Home media
Laapataa Ladies premiered on Netflix on 26 April 2024.

Reception
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and stated that Kiran Rao returns to the director's seat "with a work that strikes the right notes. She does away with marquee names in Laapataa Ladies... and employs three first-timers in a lively tale of two brides caught in a terrible mix-up."

Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3/5 stars, writing, "Laapataa Ladies works due to the amusing plot, performances, underlying message and some memorable funny and emotional scenes." Catherine Bray of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "If you can get with the larky premise, Kiran Rao’s tale of mixed-up newlyweds makes for a gently probing comedy of manners."

In a review for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kiran Rao's film is unapologetically message-y, but its strongly beating feminist heart overrides the broad brush strokes. Sometimes things need to be stated loud and clear."

Rishil Jogani of Pinkvilla rated the film 4/5 and opined that Laapataa Ladies "is funny, witty, quirky, entertaining and empowering. It is an extremely important film that utilises the power of cinema in the right way".

Tushar Joshi of India Today rated 4/5 and said in his review that "Laapataa Ladies is a terrific watch simply because it is put together so well. The length might be a slight issue, but if you invest your heart into this tale of two women gone missing, then you will be in for a treat."

Box office
On its first day, the film earned Net of ₹75 lakh, followed by ₹1.45 crore on the second day and ₹1.7 crore on the third day, a first weekend total of ₹3.75 crore. As of 2 May 2024, the film has a gross of ₹24.1 crore in India and a worldwide gross of ₹25.26 crore.