Laapataa Ladies (Missing Ladies; Hindi; 2024) Director: Kiran Rao At first glance, I thought it would be an Indian culture-bashing offering—one that ridicules some out-of-date traditional practices and tries to showcase how ridiculous India really is. Perhaps it would also include a couple of corrupt policemen on the side to drive home the point. I was wrong. It turned out to be a simple story about women empowerment, told in a simple manner and mainly using new faces, minus the glitz and razzmatazz typically associated with Bollywood. It starts with two newly wedded couples travelling in the same train compartment. As per practice in the conservative societies of the Hindi heartland, brides are expected to wear full veils to show chastity. The funny thing is that both brides donned the same saree colour and had about the same body constitution. Hence, in the dead of the night, in the confusion of almost missing the train station, Deepak alights the train sleepily with the wrong bride,...
It is all Mimesis