Grade: 4/5
Genre: Indian Drama
Ages: 16+
Another non-Bollywood movie that delivers. This genre of films have popped up like mushrooms on a forest floor. Directed by Umesh Bist, Paaglait is a dark Indian comedy that tackles several socio-taboo issues in India – woman’s voice, independence and decision making right, Muslim integration, etc. and does it within the context of a well crafted story.
Sandhya (played by Sanya Malhotra) is the main star of Paaglait and does an outstanding job playing the role. Sandhya lost her husband after just 5 months of marriage and takes a nonchalant approach on how to deal with the loss. As family members are involved in the traditional rituals and rites of mourning, she takes comfort in her Muslim friend Nazia (Shruti Sharma) and wants to get out of the house of mourning to experience some jovial moments of gup shup and eats. She is then confronted with an upsetting secret her husband had been hiding from her, revelations of his will and some unsavory accusations against her.
Subtle touches like how Sandhya allows Nazia to perform some of the Hindu rituals (to the dismay of her family) and how she wants to go out for Masala chips and Pepsi rather than mourn her loss at home, shows how the Director intelligently combines sadness with moments of levity as we slowly learn how Sandhya is charting her future course of action and independent life.
