PAGGLAIT (2021)
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| Critic - No. 203 |
Director: Umesh Bist
Produced by: Balaji Motion Pictures, Sikhya Entertainment
Casts: Sanya Malhotra, Shruthi Sharma, Ashutosh Rana, Raghubir Yadav, Rajesh Tailang, Nakul Roshan Sahdev
Language: Hindi
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Music: Arijit Singh
SYNOPSIS:
Widowed soon after marriage, Sandhya (Sanya), a young woman grapples with an inability to grieve, quirky relatives, and a startling discovery about her late husband.
REVIEW:
As the synopsis suggests, Pagglait is a satire on the expected conventional ways of dealing with grief in Indian villages and how a woman should react at each stage of a funeral - in fact, a slap to a society that tells women what to do at every goddamn stage of their life till the very end. This is not a film that grieves over a widow’s challenges but a black comedy that shows how some death can be truly liberating in many ways.
The dynamics of arranged marriage in Indian villages undergo scrutiny in the film with an engaging episode on the inherent hierarchical structure of an extended family unit, and its treatment of widows with exquisite simplicity and detail. I really liked the underlying light-heartedness it sustains despite some heavy revelations that come in act 2. The main conflict in the tale emerges when family members are informed that Astik (the late husband) has left behind ₹50 lakh worth of insurance money for Sandhya alone. The greed of relatives emerges at one corner while Sandhya also makes a startling discovery about her husband’s pre-wedding life.
The fact that we don’t even see how Astik looks, shows that the story is not interested in the surface-level facts but rather the inner challenges women face in the backward thinking, patriarchal society. Despite the detailed writing, the film is just packed with too many characters and it becomes challenging to understand their arcs and motivations aside from the main plot. The film also attempts to have many short commentary types of jokes which also misses at times, stretching the run time. Umesh inserts an interesting subtext in the film about suggested incest, which is though bold, feels abrupt and underdeveloped.
On the performance front, Sanya does a great job in underplaying an extremely complex character. Other supporting actors like Ashutosh Rana and Sayani Gupta do come up with earnest performances that bring the story closer to our hearts with the rooted realism in it. However, as we reach the climax, Umesh staggers a little to close the numerous episodes/topics touched on and deviates slightly to the dangerous melodramatic region.
That said, the dialogues were sharp and clean that I felt was the biggest strength of the film. “Jab ladki log ko akal aati hai na, toh sab unhe pagglait hi kehte hain!” (When a woman gets wise enough, she is labeled as ‘crazy’ by everyone) not only sums up the emotionally puzzled state that Sandhya finds herself in but also makes a pricking comment on the predicament of young women in the not-so-progressive bastions of the country.
VERDICT:
Though a little literal at times, Pagglait is a neat and sharp black comedy about the burdening expectations that the patriarchal society constantly lays on women at every stage of their life.
CELLULOID METER- 3.25/5:
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