Darshan Devarajan

The worst superhero movie in recent times. Plot is absolute nonsense, effects and fight scenes are utter garbage and for all the comic book fans who were looking forward to a Wonder woman vs Cheetah showdown, ooh boy.. you're gonna be so disappointed.

Right from the trailer, I was quite intrigued on knowing how this movie would play out. It revolved around a seemingly commonplace occurrence. A rift created between two individuals, amidst of what many would consider to be a perfectly happy marriage story. Well that is the premise anyway. How the perceptions of one thoughtless act can change in people's minds and the impact of it in their personal lives. Right from the get go, I liked how the movie progressed, towards first introducing many of its diverse characters that not only possess an incredible amount of depth, but are also backed up by stellar performances of an ensemble cast, to showing how they are all intertwined in each other's lives. You may hear people wanting to know if Thappad is a true story. To that I say, yes. Thappad is a true story. Not of one particular individual, or class of people. It is the true story of the inherently patriarchal Indian society. Domestic abuse, both physical and verbal or an abusive relationship in general, is something astonishingly rampant in today's "modern" society. Yet, most women are pressured into suppressing their voices by family, friends etc. for the sake of preserving the tie. As a result such cases never see the inside of a courtroom. Regardless of the type of relationship, many girls are still afraid to ask for something more for themselves in fear of the consequences. Such stories rarely make it out of the barriers of social stigma. Even if they do, more often than not, things don't work out in favor of the victims. What I especially like about this film is that it holds no bars while depicting that a toxic and highly unfavorable alliance between individuals can be seen in anywhere in the community, regardless of class, wealth or fame. Very often, we are forced to watch films that mostly just detail "rich people problems", but not in this case as the net is cast over a much wider perspective. The way the movie turns the protagonist's life upside down and makes her even question the most minute of daily tasks, unveil how her entire married life was being dictated by others into serving a purpose, and that she had unwittingly surrendered to this encroachment of her inner voice without question. By seeing how content Amrita is with her life at the beginning, your're likely to get a nagging itch in your mind telling you, "Hold up. Wait a minute. Somethin ain't right.". Male chauvinism is another aspect explored by the writers, as we see how the husband has unknowingly inherited this behavioral trait in his patriarchal household, when he has total disregard for anything that is irrelevant to his career and personal well being. In the end, what we can take away from the movie is, that only a handful of people would be able to manage and live through the outcome that the protagonist is left with, after her ordeal, but, how "itni si baat", can have much more deeply rooted implications than what it would seem. Kudos to Anubhav Sinha and the entire cast and crew on a great film! Definitely worth a watch.