Chhapaak Movie Review: Proud of you Deepika; totally!

ChhapaakU DramaDir Meghna GulzarCast Deepika Padukone Vikrant MasseyRatingFrom a selfcare point of view one of the things the surgeon in this film advises the parents of young Malti mdash the lead character based on reallife acid attack survivor Lakshmi Agarwal mdash is to keep her away from pictures of her former selfYou know the year of the tragedy as mentioned in the movie is most definitely 2005 Even a year later itd be impossible for her to escape past pictures given social media Facebook etc had taken flight by then to remind us of every waking hour through uploaded imagesMalti is still in for a shock as she inadvertently gawks at herself in the mirror As is the audience For the person on screen is Deepika Padukone What do we know modelturnedBollywood star Padukone best for Her smile Especially as an acting tool she applies to near perfection in roles where shed rather be quiet and let her eyes do most of the talking Piku Tamasha Yeh Jawaani Hai DeewaniHows Chhapaak wholly different from what any Bollywood female lead has ever done on screen It starts with totally stripping oneself of all vanity mdash way beyond what used to be hailed once as a nomakeup look Down to not even looking like oneselfShe then surrenders herself entirely to the part of a lower middleclass girl mdash in equal parts brave and vulnerable mdash fighting a battle against an attacker who threw acid on her in broad daylight a law that cant tell between acid and hot tea and a system that cant sense why sale of acid itself should be banned given the havoc it wreaks every other day upon helpless women who have no way to shield against and clearly nowhere to goIf you ever needed a filmmaker to attempt a sensational subject like this and treat it maturely with care and equanimity you neednt look further than director Meghna Gulzar In my opinion with Talvar 2015 on the Aarushi murder case and Raazi 2018 thriller set sensitively among the Pakistani Army Meghna was the revelation of the decade that just went by And look at how shes begun the new oneThere is such subtlety in her brushstrokes that it naturally helps her make a point or two without ever going overboard on a subject you instantly would She leaves room for humour when talking of being scared of a government And even romance when referring to a silent pyar love between the survivor and her wellwisher cum fellow traveller mdash a journalistturned activist Vikrant Massey Masseys character in his own way is as much the hero of this film as the attacker is unreservedly the villain This isnt some silly lowbrainer malebashing shindigIm presuming Meghna gets a lot of this measured writing from her lyricist father whose pseudonym is her last name Given Gulzars own love for sonorous words mdash Chappa Chappa Chhaiya Chhaiya mdash this films title Chhapaak itself may have emerged from his penThat said Padukones understated presence more than matches this pictures intention as the film flits between a courtroom drama and anecdotal storytelling And yet Chhapaak is so worryingly true and organically empathetic that it leaves you wholly deeply agitated when youre good to go Im already in a shit mood And how can you not beWatch Deepika Padukonestarrer Chhapaak trailer hereHow do you not stop to stare and think for a second the sort of generation were raising The level of male entitlement coupled with sexual frustration that engulfs us The kind of poison that mixes into a potent potion in some heads before they hold acid in their hands to be thrown at a person mdash because thats an objectproperty that cant be theirs and so must belong to no one elseWe hear of acid attacks all the time mostly reported from deep corners of this country And I dont know if this is entirely an Indian phenomenon If it is then I dont know whats worse The film having opened our eyes through an engaging narrative spells out the figures for acid attacks each yearThe last time I read a report suggesting young folk carrying acid was into the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University JNU planning attacks against students inside in the same week that Ive watched this film Who cares which group or political party these supposed youth belonged to Screw Indian citizens they need to prove theyre humans first Chhapaak subtly puts a lot of such debates into perspective We should be proud of it As we are of Padukone fronting and backing it of courseCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates