Please contact us if you have any feedback, comments or copyright complaints. We take the copyright complaints seriously and take action immediately.
Critic Review
Thappad (2020)THAPPAD is the story of a woman fighting a tough battle. Amrita (Taapsee Pannu) is a housewife and is happily married to Vikram (Pavail Gulati) in Delhi. Vikram works in a reputed company and is desperately looking forward to an opportunity which will take him to London for work purposes. Amrita knows how much this means to Vikram. She loves him with all her heart and her entire life revolves around him and in attending to his mother, Sulochana (Tanvi Azmi). Thankfully for Vikram, he’s selected for the London stint. The same night, he throws a party in his house. All is going well until he gets a call from his superior, Thapar. He informs Vikram that he won’t be getting the desired profile that he’s looking for in London and that he’ll have to report to an authority there. This is not something that Vikram was initially assured. He confronts Rajhans, another superior of Vikram and who is present in the party. Things heat up between them and Amrita tries to pacify him. In the process, Vikram slaps Amrita. Her whole world comes crashing down. She tries to move on but is just not able to. Vikram shows regret when he realizes that Amrita has been hurt by his actions. He tries to console her but it doesn’t work for her. Amrita hence shifts to the house of her parents (Kumud Mishra and Ratna Pathak Shah). Vikram stops her and later even comes to take her back. But she doesn’t budge. Vikram then sends a legal notice to her. Swati (Naila Grewal), the girlfriend of Amrita’s brother Karan (Ankur Rathee), suggests that Amrita should show this letter to Nethra (Maya Sarao), a reputed lawyer and Swati’s boss. Nethra suggests that Amrita should solve this issue amicably. Amrita however doesn’t want to and she insists on a divorce. What happens next forms the rest of the film..
There's precious little not to marvel at in Thappad. It's bound to be a extremely uncomfortable watch for several viewers, particularly couples, and it might also be tough for entire families to view together, given how close to home it's likely to hit, b.
All said and done, the impact left by this ‘Thappad’ is eternal. It questions a social stigma that’s bothering around 80% of the women, leaving us men think of what are we even doing? A riveting watch!.
And the scene that punches in the gut is when Pannu breaks down at a prayer meet with her in-laws and family about how a single slap had stripped her off her dignity and eroded her love for her husband. While the second half is on shaky grounds with a mes.
But there is not a shred of doubt that Sinha has made an important, crucial film, which shows up centuries of male entitlement and damaging sexism for what it is. Women are not property. Wives are not owned. Dreams have no gender, and everyone is allowed .
Watch 'Thappad' -- for Taapsee Pannu, for Anubhav Sinha, for Pavail Gulati's debut, and to just cry at the package of irony the societal system is. And probably for having this internalised -- darr toh thappad se hi lagna chahiye... **Oohhhh! What an Anub.
In one of the sequences in the film, Piyush Mishra tells Taapsee Pannu, "Kahi baar sahi karne ka result happy nahi hota," when the latter hesitatingly asks him if she is right with her choice of decision. Just the same way, Thappad too, dares to question .
Taapsee Pannu is pitch perfect, effortlessly articulating a mix of pain-induced confusion and necessity-fuelled clarity. She is particularly magnificent in the film's defining scene. Amrita says: "Just a slap? Nahi maar sakta (he can't hit me)!" There is .
Hat's off to director Anubhav Sinha for making yet another well-meaning and powerful film asking all the right questions. It's 2020 and it's a shame that it has taken this long to say that even one slap shouldn't be tolerated..
I don't know if Thappad will put a dent on male entitlement, inspire men to behave better or uproot patriarchy.
It may not change anything at all but even if it convinces women to walk out of toxic relationships, it will be half a battle won..
On the whole, THAPPAD makes a strong statement on patriarchy and violence against women and is laced with a powerful performance by Taapsee Pannu. At the box office, it will be loved and adored by its target audience – the womenfolk..
