This is a great time for movies about women by women directors. Lately, Hindi films from 'Darlings' to Kiran Rao's 'Laapataa Ladies' have drawn attention to the lives and desires of women. The latest on the block, and from a different socio-economic stratum, is Tahira Kashyap Khurrana's 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' which dropped on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, June 28.
'Sharmajee Ki Beti' is Kashyap Khurrana's Bollywood directorial debut. Over its run time of roughly 110 minutes, the movie puts middle-class life under the scanner, to see how the chips fall for five girls/women in this segment and what they do to carve their own paths.
Sharma ji ka beta, of course, is a north Indian colloquialism for that neighbour / co-worker / acquaintance's son who is an overachiever. Director Tahira Kashyap Khurrana adapts the phrase to celebrate another enviable set in modern India: Sharma ji's daughters.
Sharmajee Ki Beti review
'Sharmajee Ki Beti' is an unapologetic ode to middle-class girlhood and womanhood. The protagonists represent different ages, interests, education, skills, aspirations and problems.
The girls and women of 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' are not exceptional or inspirational. Their daily struggles are with everyday casual sexisms, the anxieties of teenage girlhood, being stuck in a thankless rut and the expectations of people around.
True, nothing truly awful happens. True, everything moves towards a happy resolution. Awards are won, runs are scored in a high-stakes women's cricket match, fetes are organized and all's well in the end. But these ordinary stories seldom get told in Bollywood - and for that reason, the film is something to celebrate.
Plus, there's something about a cheery tune being whistled that helps to lighten the viewing experience even when the topics are heavy. The background score of 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' uses this to good effect.
Sharmajee Ki Beti plot
There are five main Ms Sharma's in the film. Fourteen-year-olds Shruti Sharma (a brilliant Vanshika Taparia) and Gurveen Sharma (Arista Mehta), their respective moms Jyoti Sharma (Sakshi Tanwar) and Kiran Sharma (Divya Dutta) and Kiran's neighbour Tanvi Sharma the cricketer (Saiyami Kher).
Each Sharmajee Ki Beti has her own life, her own problems and perspectives, aspirations and trajectory.
Shruti, for instance, can't wait to hit puberty. She complains and complains till her rants pile up and burst out of her in anxious moments. In one such rant, she says: "Periods mere aaye nahi, normal mein feel nahi karti aur achchi mein dikhti nahi (I haven't started menstruating yet, I don't feel normal and I don't look good)." Her anxieties hold up a mirror to the pressures teen girls face to look and live a certain way.
Shruti's friend Gurveen has a different issue. There are older students whom she is crushing on and whom she wants to emulate, as she grapples with her sexuality.
Sakshi Tanwar plays Jyoti Sharma, a 40-year-old working mom who is tired of explaining why she wants to work to everyone - except her husband Sudhir, played by an excellent Sharib Hashmi ('The Family Man').
Divya Dutta plays Kiran, a bored and ignored housewife who daydreams about saving the world in her superhero avatar as Krazy Kiran and killing her husband (Parvin Dabas) by poisoning, knifing or shooting, among other things. She is so lonely in Mumbai, she goes out to buy vegetables and knick-knacks that she does not need or play cards with Mumbai's famous dabbawalas on a break or just sit at a bus stop as the world passes her by without as much as a hello.
Saiyami Kher plays Tanvi Sharma, a rising star in Indian women's cricket who feels tied down by her boyfriend who wants her to quit cricket and act and dress more girly.
Each of these girls/women figures out her own path over the movie's run time of just under 2 hours.
Sharmajee Ki Beti: cast, writer, director, release date on OTT
Written and directed by Tahira Kashyap Khurrana, 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' released direct-to-digital on Prime Video India, on June 28.
The ensemble cast includes Sakshi Tanwar, Divya Dutta, Saiyami Kher, Vanshika Taparia and Arista Mehta. The male cast includes Parvin Dabbas as Vinod Sharma, husband of Kiran Sharma; Sharib Hashmi as Sudhir Sharma, husband of Jyoti Sharma; Ravjeet Singh as Rohan, boyfriend to Tanvi Sharma; and Sushant Ghadge, as Kiran's house-help Chotu.
While the five Sharmas' stories coexist in the film, there is little overlap between them. Kashyap Khurrana uses music, shots of Mumbai beaches, conversations about odours, the girls' school and day-and-night changes, among other segways, to move from one character's story to the next in such a way that the film still feels cohesive despite its many different storylines.
Sharmajee Ki Beti performances
The ensemble cast of 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' on Prime Video comprises some stellar actors. Together, they make 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' so cute that you'll probably want to watch it again.
Arguably, Vanshika Taparia and Divya Dutta get the most screen time in the film.
Taparia is a revelation as Shruti, the angsty-angry teen impatient to grow into a proper bra. Her experiments to tame her frizzy hair should resonate with Indian women who have struggled to live up to fixed ideas of beauty that may include straight, shiny hair instead of curly hair and helmet head.
Taparia also gets some of the funniest lines in the movie. At one point, she tells her best friend Gurveen: "Mere toh hormones hi pataa nahi kissi kirane ki dukaan par chale gaye hain (my hormones seem to have gone awol / to a kirana store)!"
Divya Dutta embodies the fanciful Kiran to great effect. Kiran's daydreams offer her a momentary out from her oppressive boredom. They offer the audience an out as well, as relief from her oppressive situation at home and in the city.
The writing and camera work are light yet immersive. We see what the characters do, often at the same pace as the characters. For instance, when Kiran snaps out of her daydreams, it's not a sudden shift. Dreamscape melds with reality till the brain fog lifts till we as audiences see Chotu offering Kiran Rooh Afza or tea or asking her something trivial.
Sharmajee Ki Beti trailer
Prime Video India released the trailer of 'Sharmajee Ki Beti' with just over a week till the June-28 release date. Watch it here:
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