Laaga Chunari Mein Daag has a sensitive story, unfortunately it has not been tackled adeptly and that is one of the reasons that the film comes across as regressive, monotonous and even predictable at times. The film deals with the sensitive concept of how a young girl from Benares comes to Mumbai to earn a living for her family who is undergoing a financial crisis, however due to no option and choice, she is forced to get into prostitution. Girls from the interiors getting into the flesh trade is still a very relevant topic in today’s times. Unfortunately Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’s script and screenplay do not manage to evoke either sympathy or empathy to the proceedings in the film or the characters. Instead age old clichés as well as convenient sub plots are used which divert the audiences’ attention from the sensitive topic. Director Pradeep Sarkar’s execution is able and even the performances are good, however it not able to lift the film higher due to a stale script and placid screenplay. LCMD is just about average.
The film has been produced under the Yash Raj banner and has been directed by Pradeep Sarkar. The story has been written by Aditya Chopra and the screenplay has been done by Rekha Nigam. The film stars Rani Mukherjee as Badki, Konkana Sen Sharma as Chutki, Abhishek Bachchan as Rohan, Kunal Kapoor as Vivaan, Anupam Kher as Shivshankar Sahay, Jaya Bachchan as Sabitri, Hema Malini in a special appearance etc. The music for the film has been composed by Shantanu Moitra.
Badki (Rani) and Chutki (Konkana) are the quintessential girls from Benares, naughty, always up to pranks and enjoying their carefree life in Benares. However under all this exuberance, Badki’s family is undergoing a severe financial crisis. However they manage to keep this fact concealed from Chutki as they want her to continue her studies and move on to success. The family head Shivshankar Sahay (Anupam) is steeped in debts and has to repay huge loans; moreover his relatives are trying to take away the only thing left, his home. However he himself is helpless and curses faith for not providing him with a son who would be able to help the family in this financial crisis. However Badki being the eldest daughter decides to take on the responsibility of helping the family in the hour of crisis.
Badki comes to Mumbai with the hope of getting a job, however in Mumbai she is faced with one rejection after the other. Left with no opportunity and choice, Badki adopts a dual role and dons one of a high class call girl to help her family. Meanwhile Chutki finishes her studies and comes to Mumbai; she meets with success at work and also finds love with Vivaan (Kunal). Badki also meets Rohan (Abhishek) and there are sparks, but she lets go of love as she feels that it is not in her destiny. However Badki’s dual life is on the verge of being blown when she battles blackmail, etc. But things take a turn for the worse when Chutki eventually learns the truth about her sister. Will Chutki and the family ever forgive and accept Badki; will love ever come back into Badki’s life?
The script lacks any freshness and has a predictability quotient as the plot unfolds. There is also a lack of drama which makes it quite monotonous. There are no twists and turns which take you by surprise. Also the reasons for Badki getting into prostitution is not entirely convincing. There are several emotional moments in the film which do touch a chord like when Chutki learns of her sister’s identity, the parents also learning the truth etc; however there is no real sympathetic or empathetic bond developed for the characters. The climax too seems to be a tad too convenient and lacks drama or punch. The concept has not been explored with depth, script remains archaic and the screenplay is predictable. The pace also slackens at several places in the film making it a tad monotonous.
However Pradeep Sarkar’s execution lends a bit of a saving grace to the film, as he manages to capture the finer nuances of Benares extremely efficiently. He portrays Benares with an authentic charm. He also portrays his three female protagonists, mother and daughters with extreme maturity. The relationship between mother and daughters, sisters etc has been done quite well. Sarkar lends a unique quality to the finer nuances of the film. The cinematography is first rate, dialogues are average and the music too is average and suits the theme of the film.
Performances too are good, especially from the three female protagonists. Jaya Bachchan comes across as the loving mother who shares a unique bond with her daughters. Jaya manages to portray her role with ease and delivers a fine performance. Rani as Badki the main protagonist in the film has a meaty role; she gives a fairly good performance with extreme ease. Konkana manages to make her presence felt in the film during several scenes. As for the men, they have supporting roles, Anupam Kher is efficient, Abhishek Bachchan does not have much screen space and is just average in his role, Kunal Kapoor too is just average. The rest of the cast is fare.
Overall LCMD is just about average due to its amateur script and uninspiring screenplay. The concept is good but fails to be explored well and despite the film being from a big banner with big stars, it is just about average. At the box-office, the masses may not take to the theme with ease and hence it may just have an average show at multiplexes.
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| Reviewed By: Rachel Fernandes |
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