Watching Dolly Kitty Aur Who Chamakte Sitare was like a
reality check on how much, I, as a woman have crossed over almost 30 years and how
much life and its experiences have changed my values and perspectives. To put
it very simply I was a full-blown Dolly (played by the spectacular Konkona Sen
Sharma in the movie), trying to do everything perfect for everyone around her
hoping that will bring in the happiness and content she is looking for. Complicated
relationships with parents early on which never gets addressed, blatantly wrong social conditionings
about norms, body, gender, and almost everything, somehow becomes a fault or
limitation of ourselves which our family and partners never cease to exploit
amongst many others. Worst is, you
accept it, you abide by it, you change yourselves and do stuff which are
against the very moral fabric trapped deep inside yourself. Yet you do it, for
appreciation, for love, for validation, and in the hope that someday you right
the wrongs done to you, never stopping to explore the reasons behind what happened
or do a reality check on the fact that, did these many years of self-depreciations
has actually proven to be any worthy.
Anyone doing anything against this mundane structure or worst-case
scenario anyone who called out the fact that what is happening is unjust was
kept at a distance or better shamed not because they were wrong, but they represented
everything that you wanted to brush under the carpet. We were actually scared
of them as they could see through our carefully shadowed yet very very fragile
projective display of a self, we never related to, yet stuck on for the known
devils were easier to handle than to step into the world of unknown devils. Over
the initial years before the change, I have met many Kittys (role played by the adorable
Bhumi Pednekar), who were amazing women who dared to move away from the norms
and lived for themselves before anyone and I used to wonder were they born like
this or were they brought up by some sort of humans, we are yet to discover.
Until one day something drastic happened and I myself stepped
into the world of Kittys and discovered that they were neither born that way nor
had some superhuman parents or not even a perfect life it seemed to be. Their
world mostly was equally messier, confusing, and full of battles, but what made
it so much worth it, was the intoxicating feeling of liberation that came with
it. This painstakingly beautiful life was difficult but it was ours, the norms,
values, decisions, happiness, pain, all of it was ours.
I heard so many women and men discarding the movie as a
third rate Ekta Kapoor sexual fantasy, now if you have read up to this part,
you must have already understood why those many women might have said that. And
about men, we can’t blame them either much, because it might be naturally hard
for them to understand the joy of being able to decide for oneself when you
have been denied that right for the smallest to the biggest decisions of life.
I am not saying men have it all easy, so if you want to relate, probably think
of that time when you wanted to cry your heart out but was stopped from doing
so because you were a man or the time when you wanted to quit that job which
was killing you but couldn’t because you had the whole family’s economic and
social responsibility on your shoulders; you might be able to relate to almost
50% of the pain that women go through since the time they are born.
Now to spell it out for you, I am not advocating for Ekta
Kapoor since I personally have ideological differences against almost all the content she dished out mostly, but I admire her when she occasionally supports
projects like these, where the slice of life stories get the platform it deserves,
credits need to be given where it’s due.
And if your problem in 2020 is to so lately realize that women are humans with all kinds of feelings (yes, including sexual feelings), even when they are single, mother, divorced or whatsoever, then whichever God you believe in, pray a bit harder, because you, my soul, is in need of a deeper divine intervention. Jokes apart, If you are genuinely someone who is yet to explore these topics stepping out of the severely wrong conditionings fed to all of us, do watch Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare movie and many others, if the visual medium is your thing, there are many books, films, people out there who are lately creating quality content you can explore and understand further.
But if you are someone who is just out here to criticize blindly and expects people to feed to the same narrative, remember my advice above, pray a lot harder. All the best.
Alankrita Shrivastava has always touched my heart by telling
stories that resonated with those deep core feelings of women since her debut movie
“Turning 30”. She amongst many other
brilliant female directors in the industry is a perfect example of how a story
will get a perfect spin-off of reality and intensity when it’s told through a
women’s perspective.
Yet since then, the one and only constant problem one might
find about her movies is the fact that she tries to incorporate a lot of topics
in one universe that the core messaging gets a bit diversified. Probably for
people like us who thrive on stories, it might become an added sweet touch but mostly
for the general audience, that can turn out to be confusing and distracting.
Honestly, the added plot points on how her interactions change over time in the
overly patriarchal workplace atmosphere or the heart-warming story arch with
her own son who is far from the general norms of gender that society adheres to,
or the overwhelming and deep conversation she has with her mother felt like the cherry on top of cheesecake for me. Although some other side topics of
religion, moral policing, body politics, and an abrupt incidence of public
violence seemed to be half baked and more like plot points included just to
conclude or make a point hastily.
Minor flaws points in storytelling like these apart, the movie proudly can boast on its fantabulously capable star cast.
Konkona Sen Sharma as Dolly proves that she is just the best out there by showcasing so brilliantly the denial even when she knows the reality, the fear, and pain of confronting her own demons, the joy of that momentary happiness of realizing her own feelings which she believed to be long-dead and the courage to finally step out of shadows. Actress, writer, and director, a brilliant one at all of it, I am a fan of this woman.
I am also super happy that Bhumi Pednekar finally stepped out of the patriotic reselling bandwagon of movies that she was recently type casted to. As Kitty aka Kaajal, she effortlessly portrays all those phases of a woman who tries to make it big in her own life defying social norms yet being humanly confused and messy. Huge shout out to the always adorable and dependable Vikrant Massey, Amol Parashar, and Kubbra Sait, who did their part with honesty and beauty. Aamir Bashir as Amit was a revelation at least to me as he played the part very naturally, looking forward to more of his work. (I will dig into his previous work, in case I have missed out on a gem). I am glad to see Karan Kundra finally out of the tormenting Roadies show life, but unfortunately, DJ Johnny felt like having a Roadies hangover, here is hoping that you get better roles to explore the craft further. Music by Clinton Serejo and Arjuna Harjai didn’t add much to the movie either, neither the lyrics nor the songs stay with you moments after it’s screened.
Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare on Netflix is a movie that is a must-watch just as equally as the other ventures by Alankrita, like Lipstick Under My Burkha and the series Made in Heaven in Amazon Prime; if you are someone who can understand the nuances of human emotions under the seemingly surface level shenanigans we tend to display, you will not be disappointed.
Picture Courtesy: Pinkvilla, Scroll, Instagram, Pakaoo, Womensweb, Netflix
Nice review...Added to my list..
ReplyDeleteContinue the good work