Thappad staring: Taapsee Pannu, Pavail Gulati, Ratna Pathak Shah, Tanvi Azmi, Dia Mirza, Ram Kapoor, Manav Kaul

Rated: 7/10

When the trailer was out for this film, the first thought that most people would have had is will this movie have any takers? Will the audience even like the uncomfortable subject that the the film deals with given that we live in a patrichal society and the woman, once she is married, has no identity of her own?

The Indian society lays so much stress on how and what the woman of the house must do in order to ensure her family doesn’t break even if the very same family neglects to see what the woman really wants, where her happiness lies and if she has any aspirations as a woman and wants to pursue them that gives her the respect and trust that she has put in an instituition called marriage.

Thappad is definitely a slap on all our faces. Because we allow our mothers to bring us up with the notion that once we are married, we have no identify of our own. That it is okay for the man to take out his frustration on his woman.

That it is okay for him to justify that act by saying that he was stressed and frsutrated. That he couldn’t have hit his boss with whom he was angry and took that out on the wife. That it was a must for the wife to forget and move on even though the husband dared to raise his hand on the wife in front of everyone.

Tanvi Azmi’s character says: Thoda badarsht karna sikhna chahiye auraton ko, is such a archiac thought. Do we ask the men to tolerate? No. Why a woman?

Thodi bahut maar peet toh expression of love hi hai na sir? is yet another stereotypical mindset of men.

Like Tappsee Pannu’s character said: Tum apne company mein itne emotionally invested thhey you could not move on..maine toh apni puri life invest kari hai tumhare saath kaise move on karoon? And adds: Pata hai uss thappad se kya hua?..uss ek thappad se na muje woh saari unfair cheezein saaf saaf dikhne lag gayi jisko main andekha karke move karti jaa rahi thi.

Kudos to Anubhav Sinha, who is also the director and Mrunmayee Lagoo to have come up with such a story. We need more such subjects that break the patriachal mindeset.

Sinha has done a great service by making this film. There may be many men who will not agree and feel that a slap is a ground  for a divorce but the fact remains that while it was just a slap par nahi maar sakta.

It is a movie that every man must watch. And the woman too so that she knows that she has an identity of her own.