Laapataa Ladies (2024) Review: A Bridal Mix-Up With Bite

Is Laapataa Ladies worth watching?

Yes. Laapataa Ladies is one of the most charming Indian films of recent years, a small-town comedy of errors that turns out to have a lot to say about marriage, identity and freedom. Kiran Rao keeps the tone light and generous, and the young cast is lovely, but the film’s jokes carry a real edge about how little room its heroines are given. The reservation is that the social points are sometimes spelled out, and the story resolves more tidily than its sharper moments suggest.

What is Laapataa Ladies about?

It is 2001, somewhere in rural India. Newly married Deepak (Sparsh Shrivastava) is taking his bride Phool (Nitanshi Goel) home on a crowded overnight train, surrounded by other wedding parties. The brides all wear long veils that hide their faces, and in the confusion of a dark station at night, Deepak leads the wrong woman off the train. He arrives home with Pushpa (Pratibha Ranta), a self-possessed stranger, while Phool is left alone on a railway platform with no phone, little money and no idea of the name of her husband’s village.

The two women’s paths split from there: one lost in a busy station, the other quietly navigating a household that is not hers. Laapataa Ladies is directed by Kiran Rao, an Indian production in Hindi that runs 123 minutes. It was released in March 2024 and later became India’s official submission to the Academy Awards.

Comedy that knows exactly where it’s aiming

Rao’s great achievement is the tone. The film is often very funny, full of bickering in-laws, bumbling bureaucracy and village gossip, yet the laughter always points somewhere. The very device that sets up the plot, brides so completely hidden that their own husbands can’t tell them apart, becomes a pointed joke about how invisible these women are expected to be.

The script is patient with its characters. Nobody is written as a cartoon villain; instead the film shows how a whole system of habits and expectations constrains women, and how small acts of kindness and curiosity can loosen it. It is progressive without being preachy for most of its running time, a difficult balance.

A cast of wonderful small-town faces

The young leads are a real discovery. Nitanshi Goel makes Phool innocent without being foolish, and her gradual gain in confidence at the station gives the film much of its warmth. Pratibha Ranta plays Pushpa with a guarded intelligence, a woman clearly thinking several moves ahead. Sparsh Shrivastava is sweetly anxious as the bewildered groom.

The supporting players steal plenty of scenes. Ravi Kishan is a comic delight as a crafty, paan-chewing police inspector, and Chhaya Kadam brings grit and wit to the tea-stall owner who takes Phool under her wing. Her scenes contain some of the film’s sharpest lines about independence.

A message tied up a little too neatly

Laapataa Ladies occasionally underlines what it has already shown. A few speeches make the themes explicit in ways the images had already handled, and the final stretch ties up its threads with a slightly fairy-tale tidiness. Some viewers will also find the rural setting a little prettified. These are minor flaws in a film whose sincerity is its strength.

Who should watch Laapataa Ladies?

It is ideal for families, for anyone who enjoys gentle character comedy, and for viewers who want an accessible introduction to contemporary Hindi cinema beyond big-star spectacle. At just over two hours, it moves easily. There is very little violence or strong language, making it suitable for most ages, though its themes of dowry and marital control may prompt conversations with younger viewers.

If you enjoy it, these are good next steps:

• Queen, another Hindi comedy about a young woman who discovers her independence after a wedding goes wrong.
• Kapoor & Sons, for affectionate, funny family drama with real emotional depth.
• Barfi!, a gentle, whimsical romance with the same big heart.

The verdict

Laapataa Ladies is a gentle, funny and quietly radical film that uses a simple mix-up to say something substantial about women’s lives in India. Its lessons are sometimes delivered too neatly, but its warmth, performances and clear-eyed humour make it a delight for almost any audience.

Rating: 4/5