Much can be said about this movie. I feel compelled to begin by talking about the film's end. Some people with whom I have had the chance to discuss the film did not seem satisfied with the film's end. But I don't feel that way; I thought it was a realistic end in the sense that for so many women, irrespective of their background, transgression does not happen that easily... Its too long a struggle which has to be met with persistence. And I felt that's what the final sequence does - it takes the characters' struggle or oppression to a chaotic peak to shatter their expectations to overcome their oppressive circumstances or to fulfill their desires. Yet, these women are not down and out. The final conversation suggests that they haven't given up and they are still engaging with their problems; the optimism is latent, not explicit. The end leaves these characters and the audience in the middle of their struggle/rebellion. Besides, there is already a Queen or an Angry Indian Goddesses (I am yet to watch Parched..!), which have happy transgressive endings.
Technically, I loved the voyeuristic visual style and narration adopted by the writer/director; it allows us to empathize with the inner, repressed world of the four women protagonists. Also, many scenes in the film actually provide shock humour (or voyeuristic comic relief) through the dialogues, figure placement and the overall setting/situations - basically a majority of the narrative focuses on showing the characters in the middle of their transgressive adventures. So, strategically the end concocts a jolt to their adventures! So, it is an intelligent narrative strategy to use anticlimax to end the film (but not the characters' spirit). Overall, this is indeed a prime example of bold and experimental film-making, at least in Bollywood. Respect and more power to the director as well as to the four main lead actors who chose to portray those characters.
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