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Chhapak

Chhapak

I stand in line at Starbucks and take forever to decide what drink I want, what size it should be, what flavour should go in, what milk is to be used...so on and so forth.
So many choices...

Imagine if you had no nose, and the doctor treating you asked you to make a choice of the type of nose you wanted?

If you sink into it, Chhapak gives you many such moments of introspection. You can't call Chhapak an entertainer and you couldn't label it a documentary. It's a biography in a genre of its own. The last time something invaded my being like this was the documentary on Amy Winehouse.

I make no bones about it, this is an extremely tough film to watch and you will carry it with you for days. But watch it you must, for the crafty screenplay which will hold you in thrall as will the strength with which Meghna Gulzar directs this. I have said this before, and I say it again, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.

It is the story of an Acid Attack Survivor, Laxmi Agarwal, played ably by Deepika Padukone. ( Yes she went and sat in JNU, YES maybe she was promoting her film, but also YES, she is a damned fine artist.) So just let's discuss her talents and those of the makers of this movie.

The writers have used a non-linear narrative and have created a top notch timeline, you can gauge the time elapsed without having to resort to calculations or a subtitle. They show the passage of time with the growing up of the lawyer's daughter and also by the events happening in the life of the inhuman attacker.

Meghna Gulzar is extremely gifted at building up police procedurals as we saw in Talvar, and yet again she uses the investigation to show us the failures in the justice system and just what it was that Laxmi Agarwal the survivor whose life this movie celebrates, was actually fighting for. ( On a side note, do keep an eye out for the superb continuity, right from the jhumkas to the bag Deepika keeps carrying.)

Malti's lawyer is played by a very gifted lady by the name of Madhurjeet Sarghi, and I am dying to know more about her. Do tell if you know. A variety of theatre actors have been roped in, and I always think this is a good idea.


Payal Nair who plays Malti's benefactress is good too. And there was Anand Tiwari with a blink and you miss him bit. But it is Vikrant Massey whom you start looking out for, as always he is a scene stealer and he almost does to Deepika what he did to Ranveer Singh in Lootera. But Deepika even with the very few lines of dialogues that she has been given, goes and suffuses you with her agony and strength.

When you watch the attack taking place you wonder where are the wounds and you agree with the puzzlement with which the Sikh gentleman watches Malti writhing on the road. The scene where he washes her face with water is powerful, as is a later scene where Malti's mother lovingly washes her hair.

Watch Malti stow away her jhumkas because she has no ears and tell me that you didn't feel a fist squeeze your heart. Or watch a romantic proposal happen on a bus and tell me you felt nothing.

The script deals with the most taut moments with such ease that a matter of fact Malti's reactions get you each time. When Malti's mother asks her to come home early, Malti turns around and asks, " is se bura kya ho sakta hai?"
It is Malti who understands the pain of the sibling who is fit and able and shoved to the periphery.

The stoic acceptance and humor which has been written into Malti's character is reminiscent of the Hollywood movie,  Wonder, I loved that one and you shouldn't miss it. 

Another movie based on Acid Attack survivors that I saw recently is Uyare. It's a Malayalam movie. But Chhapak is head and shoulders above it. 
Uyare seemed surreal, this is more real and structured.

It is jolt when a reporter asks Malti's lawyer, " why do heinous crimes on women always start generating a debate on changing the law?"
Yes why is it so? Can't laws be made for crimes without waiting for them to happen?
When the defense lawyer says that Malti didn't name her attacker right away, he is told that she did say the name but her speech was garbled. This needed argument? Hell I wouldn't remember my own name for 5 minutes if I had stubbed my toe.

The script saves the actual attack for the end and then follows it up with a happy ending and just when you think all is hunky-dory, the team of Atika Chohan and Meghna Gulzar wrench out your insides.
When Deepika appears on screen without a blemish, and all happy and healthy, it's painful to watch because you know what's coming. That's the beauty of this script, it is the normal that makes you cringe.

The commentary on this movie can not be complete, unless I mention to you article 326 a and b, and also the Harpreet Acid Attack case. Google these and realise ever more what terrible beings humans are.





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