Thappad Movie Review: Taapsee Pannu’s Potent Performance And Anubhav’s Sinha’s Sensitive Direction Makes It A Fabulous Film

Thappad comes out as much needed in the times we are living in. Well from the day the trailer of the film dropped, I knew exactly what to expect and the film totally surpassed all my expectations. Well, the film talks about male entitlement, it talks about the things we see on a day to day basis which have become one with our existence. In a country like ours where a woman is considered to be a chattel of her husband their only recourse to domestic violence and abuse is separation as divorce may lead to social stigmatisation and this fact has been brought about darn nicely in the film.

The story of Thappad revolves around the marital relationship of a loving homemaker Amrita ( Taapsee Pannu ) and her overly ambitious, husband Vikram (Pavail Gulati). While the movie reflects the loving equation in-between Amrita and Vikram, it also shows how Amrita just can't shake off the realizations of being subtly suppressed under the dominance of her husband.

Well, Thappad literally translates to a slap. And there can be various reasons to slap someone or get slapped by someone. In the film, that one slap actually sums it all. We have seen Taapsee in various characters in other films as well and in this too she proves her mettle. She is just too good. The thing is she never goes over the top which in this kind of a role could have been a probability. The characters in the film are pretty lifelike. We see such characters on a daily basis and perhaps even interact with them.

Taapsee gets slapped when during a party which has been kept to celebrate Vikram’s apparent promotion but something that ultimately doesn’t happen. In a fit of rage albeit unintentionally Vikram ends up slapping Taapsee in front of all the guests present.

But what pinches Amrita is the fact that instead of saying a sorry and being apologetic Vikram tries to coax her into forgetting about the incident and move on. That’s when she files for a divorce on the grounds of abuse.

In the process, families of both the parties get embroiled into a war of sorts that shows its ugly face through statements we all are familiar with. Statements like “Jaane de beta, thoda bardasht karna seekhna chahiye auroto ko” or “ Abhi yehi sunna reh gaya tha, beti divorce karegi.” While many try to talk her into just letting it go and moving on, there are others who understand Amrita’s standpoint and support her.

There is not much to be written about the film besides the fact that it is absolutely extra-ordinary! Director Anubhav Sinha ’s adept and sensitive handling of the subject, Taapsee’s superlative performance and not to forget the ensemble of such talented actors playing some really important roles in the film. Actors like Ratna Pathak Shah , Tanvi Azmi are all in their form. The best part of it is, how the women who take a completely different stand, in reality, changed into women who have made patriarchy a way of life.

The music is an okay job done, nothing that you would perhaps hum at some point in time but they surely fit into the scheme of things in the film, the dialogues in the film are so straight forward and simple, so much so it feels like a déjà vu, as though you have heard the same lines somewhere, some time ago.

All in all, a film that raises so many questions, a film that makes you mull over the times we live in and a film that is a subtle taunt at the weird ways our lives are entrenched in.

I feel this film is a must-watch for all and sundry, for every woman, every man so that their senses open up to the so-called trivial wrongs they have been doing all this while.