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dav-ina · 6 years ago

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EK LADKI KO DEKHA TOH AISA LAGA // REVIEWED

Hi guys, so it’s been a very long time since I’ve put out any content and for that I apologise but I hope to be making more use of this blog soon. I decided to review a Bollywood film I recently watched called ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ - so here it is!

The recent decriminalisation of homosexuality in India had the nation in a state of joy and empowerment and it truly was something to celebrate, however I was taken by surprised when I saw the film industry jump on the bandwagon. Directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar, ‘Ek Ladki Koh Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ is the first Bollywood film about same sex relationships. At the forefront of the film, we see Anil Kapoor and daughter Sonam Kapoor taking the lead roles as the father-daughter roles onscreen.

The film follows the narrative of a shy, young woman in Punjab: Sweety Chaudary, who seems reluctant to be married. She crosses paths with failing playwright Sahil Mirza (Rajkummar Rao). The narrative depicts a romantic relationship blossoming between the pair before Sweety reveals she is a lesbian, and in love with the confident, bold Kuhu (Regina Cassandra). Sweety faces the standard rejection and disownment, that many queer people face, from her father Balbir (Anil Kapoor) and older brother Babloo (Abhishek Duhan).

This film is a massive leap for Indian cinema; Sweety’s harsh reality is embedded into a familiar Punjabi family setting that an Indian audience will be familiar with. The Chaudary family does have the conventions of a traditional Indian family as depicted in Bollywood. Babloo filling the archetype of the ‘Bada Bhai’ (big brother) who is obsessed with protecting the family’s izzat (honour), Sweety being the quiet, ‘Damsel in Distress’ and even Sweety’s Biji (grandma) acting as the overemotional, wailing stereotype. The film uses the Chaudary family as its centrepiece to tackle plenty of social issues as well as same sex relations, but seeing as it is an LGBT film, let’s dive into that first!

The representation of Sweety’s navigation of life as a queer woman seems fairly accurate and the film depicts how it often is an incredibly dark experience for LGBT Indians dealing with the toxic elements of our culture. Her acceptance of living this extreme secret life and just marrying a man and burying her true desires is an idea that many queer Asians seriously consider – we are conditioned to think that being authentic is selfish to our families after everything they have done for us. We are conditioned to think that society will look down on our homes and that our parents will face defamation and the film depicts this really well. Sweety’s isolated childhood illustrates the struggles that our LGBT children face daily – self-doubt, self-hate, realising you are different and if that isn’t enough, there’s always bullying and harassment. Shelley Chopra Dhar’s dark but heart-warming of this journey is not patronising in any sense, but overall realistic and gives the public a good glimpse into the struggles of queer youth.

The film also touches upon Balbir Chaudary’s chef dream being dashed by his mother, who would not let him cook as she claimed it emasculated him. We see him sneaking into the kitchen in his own home, constantly walking on egg shells as not to be caught by his mother at his grown age. This obviously does echo certain aspects of Indian society. This type of toxic masculinity is also echoed in Babloo’s character and his fixation for misogyny under the rouse of the defamation of his family. However, Babloo is part of the queer experience as this is often one viewpoint that South Asian LGBT+ people are often faced with.

As mentioned previously, the centrepiece of the film is the Chaudary family itself and how they respond to Sweety’s sexuality and as a result does not focus on the love story between Sweety and Kuhu – which I personally felt was a little disappointing. Kuhu’s character was much downplayed. The scenes between the pair were very endearing but it was clear that both Kapoor and Cassandra just did not have the right chemistry, as well as their scenes together being extremely limited. But honestly, I’m not mad and I understand that neither actress has played a queer woman, as for the limited scenes, it could be argued that perhaps the Bollywood audience is simply not ready for a full-blown mainstream lesbian love story. However, the response definitely suggests otherwise! Even though there has not been as many responses as a traditional summer blockbuster, the film appears to have been received and welcomed by modern India.

Visually, the film is very pleasing. Not too many grand, dramatic shots as splendid visuals are not the focus of this film – it’s a simple story about a simple girl. However the positioning of characters onscreen was something I was particularly pleased about as I believe it was very symbolic and well orchestrated, it was very subtle and in the background yet in plain sight and blatant. The soundtrack is also very catchy and definitely fills its purpose, featuring vocals from the iconic Navraj Hans, Harshdeep Kaur and other notable musicians. Overall, for India’s first LGBT movie, ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ finally brings forth key social issues in an understandable, serious and important manner.

#bollywood #lgbt #sonam kapoor #regina cassandra #anil kapoor #film #review #media

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