Thappad movie addresses a fuming yet long-drawn-out issue that needed our immediate attention. It is what its moniker says, a slap to those who think hitting a person in a relationship is alright. Thappad rests all those doubts people have about how far their other halves can be allowed to go, with just one tight slap. It resounds with so many cowering hearts that it has catharsis written all over it.
Thappad movie defines boundaries and paves way for expectations without being preachy. It uses five stories with different perspectives to not only explore just one slap, but extrapolates further to define what other types of misconduct are not okay.
The movie is a lesson and lessons are not everyone’s forte. People who have their blackboards chalked right from the very beginning will have a difficult time dusting off their beliefs. For some, it would be hard to digest such a simple yet powerful concept. But for those who have walked down the same lanes as that of the protagonist, who have lived the same old ingrained story, this movie is like an eye-opener.
Direction of Thappad Movie
Centered around one story, the movie does a blend of several other walks of life too, even as they intermingle with a single thread. It does not fail to throw light on an official alarming revulsion that starts to bring an alleviating distaste into the lives of others. It is beautifully directed, for a concept that looked quite simple and obvious from the trailers.
Taking that simplicity and building up on it with valid substance, turning that seemingly straightforward story into a complex drama with value-added characters and editing it akin to a planned renovation, are all the commendable jobs that together the director, editor and the writer of Thappad movie achieve.
Anubhav Sinha has started picking up good projects. His last year’s crime drama Article 15 was yet another good flick that saw him digging into internal issues that the country is still struggling with. I think he has started asking the right questions. He is getting into the muck and doing the dirty work, for someone has to.
It fills our life with hope, that there are more such stories to come, more daunting issues imminent. For there are countless subjects waiting to be dissected on the surgical table meant for evaluation. You know it! The list is huge.
The Sense of Entitlement
Thappad movie brings out in the open, that repugnant hidden monster in every man. The sense of entitlement, of control, the unpoked devil that wallows in peace, as if every other being is less significant when compared to his own needs and wants. Anubhav Sinha pokes that devil, and all hell breaks loose.
Goes without saying that there is a selfish egotist lurking inside every obstinate man. We are one intractable beast of a creation that is not afraid to rummage everything in its wake, once we set our minds to. Bring any other species on the planet to the arena, and we will behave with all our might. Primarily, with a never back down attitude because there is hardcore unadulterated valor that created us the way we are.
But all we need is some sort of reawakening, a step back to witness in our coarse and boorish wrath, what collateral damage we commit. The end result, and the price that we pay to satiate the beast inside. What all things are the things we burn while trying to fight?
Why has mankind become the way it is? Why write over a bazillion lives to prove the brawn? We don’t need to. We don’t have to. So many lives, right from birds, to animals, every living and breathing soul cowering in fear to our footsteps. Why? Why do we need to instill fright to mark our place? The question isn’t just confined to our other halves, but it is more of a universal probe.
It is all about power to men. But we have to understand the cardinal assertion that’s not what real power is. Power is when you know what you could do to someone but you keep it under check. You don’t misuse it. Even in the direst of moments, you let your brain dictate your action as opposed to your heart.
Pavail Gulati as Vikram in movie Thappad
One of the most interesting characters the movie creates is that of Vikram portrayed by Pavail Gulati, the quintessential husband who does everything right, until after a point of time when nothing he does means anything. Nothing he does matters anymore for he has done the unthinkable.
What is even more frustrating is how after the event his demeanour never goes on to come anywhere close to being apologetic. Instead, he tries to layer up his act with some sort of reasoning, when there is no reason whatsoever that could justify his actions.
Efforts are in fact never taken to ameliorate the wrongdoing. Not once do you see the actor apologizing for his mistake. It holds so true when you are fighting with someone. People often take other people’s lives for granted. Wearing their entitlement as an armour, and using it against their very own to hurt them even more.
On the acting and casting front, the movie makes you wonder, Indian Cinemas’ obsession of not using big names, or popular actors for the husband’s role. They are still scared of playing the bad guy. They are afraid while playing a guy like Vikram their name would get smeared. For that you have to give it to Pavail, who gives precedence to his acting over the aftermath. That was real ballsy of him.
Taapsee Pannu as Amrita
It is very crucial for an actor to truly feel and experience the pain of the protagonist. To embody that person, Taapsee Pannu was forever the right choice for the flick. Her own life reflects her movie choices. She is ballsy in person too.
She is that one only defining lady who could have done justice to the role of Amrita, so she proves, as she shatters you into a million pieces with her dramatic acting. There are so many occasions in the flick that reduces you to sobs and snivels. You are feeling sorry for her from the bottom of your heart even as you are trying to make sense out of her husband.
Thappad is revolving around Taapsee’s Amrita. She is a one woman force that changes so many perspectives. It is great to see how her life gives others that inspiring push that needed.
Another one of the great parts Thappad movie builds itself on is the relationship of Amrita and her father Jayant played by Kumud Mishra. It is so heart-rending to watch a father go through the pain and agony of dealing with a man who has hit the person whom he has treated like a princess his whole life. Jayant is constantly worrying about what his daughter must be going through, at the same time happy to have her around. Ratna Pathak Shah‘s Sandhyaki doesn’t go unnoticed as well.
One Slap Gravitas
There are so many disconcerting underlying issues in India that it would take the country three more generations to come up to speed to radical thinking. One of those issues is domestic violence.
So you gotta ask the question where do you define that thin line? Does a slap come under domestic violence, or is a slap just a slap. Or maybe this is how it starts? Thappad asks a lot of valid questions.
The movie does extremely well with its screenplay too.
Jod ke rakhni pade koi cheez toh matlab tooti hui hai na?
Great lines like this are strewn across the flick. Impactful stern comebacks remind you of an . The story becomes very similar to that of Marriage Story where divorce lawyers come out from their holes to deliver judgment.
The good thing is that the movie doesn’t go in the favour of Vikram, but is craftily left open-ended. It is good to see this brazen man come to his senses, and fathom the import of his mistake. It is a victory for everybody. That’s where the movie ends on a good note marking at a possibility.
The Final Verdict
Overall a great watch, definitely a myth buster. Men who have committed this crime are in dire need of introspection, and women who have let this happen need to come out of their shell too, and do the right thing.
Check out the trailer of Thappad movie here:
Thappad
