Laapataa Ladies

Laapataa Ladies
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kiran Rao
Written by	Original Story: Biplab Goswami Screenplay and Dialogues: Sneha Desai Additional Dialogues: Divyanidhi Sharma
Produced by	Aamir Khan Kiran Rao Jyoti Deshpande
Starring	Nitanshi Goel Sparsh Shrivastav Pratibha Ranta Abhay Dubey Chhaya Kadam Ravi Kishan
Cinematography	Vikash Nowlakha
Edited by	Jabeen Merchant
Music by	Ram Sampath
Production companies	Jio Studios Aamir Khan Productions Kindling Pictures
Distributed by	Yash Raj Films
Release dates	8 September 2023 (2023-09-08) (TIFF) 1 March 2024 (2024-03-01)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	est.₹4−5 crore
Box office	₹23.29crore

Laapataa Ladies (transl. Lost ladies) is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Kiran Rao, and produced by Rao, Aamir Khan, and Jyoti Deshpande. It stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan, and tells the story of two young brides who get exchanged during a train ride, to their husband's homes. The film is based on Noukadubi, a 1906 novel by Rabindranath Tagore, which revolves around a case of mistaken identity. The novel has been adapted many times on celluloid. Milan (1946), starring Dilip Kumar, was based on the same, and so was Ghunghat (1960).

The film was screened at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on 8 September 2023, and was theatrically released on 1 March 2024. The film opened to positive reviews from critics and audience and was praised for its story, screenplay and cast performances.

Plot

In 2001 in the fictional Nirmal Pradesh, Deepak, a farmer, is travelling back to his village with his new bride, Phool. They get into a crowded passenger train along with many other newlywed couples. The brides all wear the same-colored attire with their faces completely covered with a veil as is the tradition. Deepak dozes off and wakes up in the night to realize that he has arrived at his destination. In the darkness and confusion from the rush to leave, he disembarks with the wrong bride and Phool is left behind on the train.

The couple is welcomed by his family only to be shocked when they realize it is the wrong bride. Her real name is Jaya but she gives them a false name and lies about where she is from. Meanwhile, at a different station, Phool realizes the mixup but the station master is unable to help her due to her not knowing the name of Deepak's village. She also refuses to go back home, not wanting to bring shame to her family. She decides to stay at the station in case Deepak comes looking, and is helped by Manju Mai, who runs a tea stand on the platform.

Deepak, frantically looking for Phool, files a report with SI Shyam Manohar. Manohar surmises that Jaya may be a thief. He follows her and sees her sell jewellery, use a mobile phone, and buy bus tickets. Jaya becomes friendly with Deepak's family and shows a surprising amount of knowledge about organic farming.

She is about to flee the village but feels bad about Deepak and asks his artistically-talented sister-in-law to draw a portrait of Phool to help in the search. She then makes posters of the portrait and has them spread around. Phool meanwhile works at the tea stand and learns to be independent.

Thinking that Jaya belongs to a gang of thieves, Manohar arrests her. However, he and Deepak learn that Jaya was married off against her will to Pradeep, an abusive man only interested in dowry. She wanted to pursue a career in organic farming and had gotten admission to a university in Dehradun. When she accidentally left the train with Deepak, she decided to use the opportunity to escape her fate with Pradeep and fulfill her dreams. She had sold off her jewelry to pay for her academic fees and ticket to Dehradun.

Pradeep arrives at the police station for Jaya. He assaults her in front of the cops and threatens to recover the full dowry from her mother. Manohar states that his actions constitutes an offence, and since Jaya is an adult, she cannot be forced to go with anyone. He threatens to charge Pradeep unless he stays away from Jaya.

Due to Jaya's posters, Phool is finally able to come back to Deepak. Jaya, now free from Pradeep, leaves to pursue her studies in Dehradun.

Cast

• Nitanshi Goel as Phool Kumari
• Pratibha Ranta as Jaya / Pushpa Rani
• Sparsh Shrivastav as Deepak Kumar
• Chhaya Kadam as Manju Maai
• Ravi Kishan as Inspector Shyam Manohar
• Geeta Agrawal Sharma as Yashoda
• Satendra Soni as Chhotu
• Abeer Jain as Bablu
• Bhaskar Jha as Pradeep
• Daood Hussain as Gunjan
• Durgesh Kumar as Dubey Ji
• Pankaj Sharma as Deepak's Father
• Kanupriya Rishimum as Bela
• Sanjay Dogra as Murti
• Shad Mohamad as Hanif
• Ravi Kapadiya as Abdul
• Vivek Sawrikar as Station Master
• Rachna Gupta as Poonam
• Pranjal Pateriya as Raghu
• Samarth Mayor as Bilas
• Abhay Dubey as Prisoner

Production

This is director Kiran Rao's second directorial venture after Dhobi Ghat (2010). Film's co-producer Aamir Khan discovered the story Two Brides, by Biplab Goswami, at a script writing competition. The film was shot on location in Bamuliya and Dhamankheda (Dhankhedi) villages in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. Local villagers were cast as secondary characters and the film was shot in actual houses in the area.

Soundtrack

Laapataa Ladies
Soundtrack album by Ram Sampath
Released	13 February 2024
Recorded	2023
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	12:14
Language	Hindi
Label	T-Series
Ram Sampath chronology
Kathal (2023) Laapataa Ladies (2024)
Official audio
Laapataa Ladies - Full Album on YouTube

The music of the film is composed by Ram Sampath while lyrics written by Divyanidhi Sharma, Prashant Pandey and Swanand Kirkire.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Doubtwa"	Divyanidhi Sharma	Sukhwinder Singh	2:30
2.	"Sajni"	Prashant Pandey	Arijit Singh	2:50
3.	"Dheeme Dheeme"	Swanand Kirkire	Shreya Ghoshal	4:28
4.	"Beda Paar"	Prashant Pandey	Sona Mohapatra	2:26
Total length:				12:14

Release

Laapataa Ladies was released in theatres on 1 March 2024. Yash Raj Films acquired global distribution rights (Including UK) for the film.

Home media

Laapataa Ladies premiered on Netflix on 26 April 2024 .

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 21 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and stated that Kiran Rao returns to the director's seat "with a work that strikes the right notes. She does away with marquee names in Laapataa Ladies... and employs three first-timers in a lively tale of two brides caught in a terrible mix-up."

Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3/5 stars, writing, "Laapataa Ladies works due to the amusing plot, performances, underlying message and some memorable funny and emotional scenes." Catherine Bray of The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "If you can get with the larky premise, Kiran Rao’s tale of mixed-up newlyweds makes for a gently probing comedy of manners."

In a review for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kiran Rao's film is unapologetically message-y, but its strongly beating feminist heart overrides the broad brush strokes. Sometimes things need to be stated loud and clear."

Rishil Jogani of Pinkvilla rated the film 4/5 and opined that Laapataa Ladies "is funny, witty, quirky, entertaining and empowering. It is an extremely important film that utilises the power of cinema in the right way".

Tushar Joshi of India Today rated 4/5 and said in his review that "‘Laapataa Ladies’ is a terrific watch simply because it is put together so well. The length might be a slight issue, but if you invest your heart into this tale of two women gone missing, then you will be in for a treat."

Box office

On its first day, the film earned Net of ₹75 lakh, followed by ₹1.45 crore on the second day and ₹1.7 crore on the third day, a first weekend total of ₹3.75 crore. As of 2 May 2024, the film has a gross of ₹22.13 crore in India and a worldwide gross of ₹23.29 crore.

External links

• Laapataa Ladies at IMDb