We have now all in some unspecified time in the future encountered the form of duplicitous males who would shamelessly beat their wives, catcall each potential feminine, exert their dominance, and but name themselves feminists who “respect ladies.” They will not even deny their preposterous acts and would both blame the sufferer for triggering them or make enjoyable of their hopelessness. These males, whose actions are sometimes overcompensating for their very own inadequacies and dysfunctions, can sadly be present in each stratum of society.
Netflix’s newest unique movie Do Patti, brings to us one such man in Dhruv Sood (Shaheer Sheikh) from a small hill city, who usually beats his traumatised spouse Saumya (Kriti Sanon). The movie begins with a paraglide gone improper, because the couple dangle within the air for his or her lives from their glider. Saumya, who thinks her husband has sabotaged her harness, begs for her life. Upon being rescued, Saumya tells inspector Vidya Jyothi (Kajol) that her husband tried to homicide her, and we’re taken to a flashback sequence of three months in the past, when the 2 first met.
Saumya is launched as an anxious introvert, who has been in extreme melancholy since her mother and father died. Now dwelling with an alcoholic caretaker, she is quietly affected by a number of phobias and traumas. She additionally has a tumultuous relationship together with her twin sister Shailee, who was despatched off to a hostel due to her abusive behaviour in direction of Saumya, solely to return in time to intrude together with her love life.
A significant flaw that holds Do Patti again is the incoherent plot and its fluctuating tone. A number of the scenes are intense and go away an enduring impression; others are merely fillers that do not add something significant to the story. A thriller is meant to continuously hold viewers on their toes and punctiliously arrange the items earlier than pulling the rug. Do Patti, nevertheless, is not in a position to preserve that iron grip on its plot.
The movie, as an illustration, wastes a number of time in establishing Kajol’s character. She performs an idealist cop who talks in Bollywood’s stereotypical concept of what a hinterland accent is meant to be — it is neither Hindi nor Haryanvi or Bhojpuri. Can we please cease with the lazy sub-altern caricature already?
At one level, it begins to really feel that the writers had been so starstruck by Kajol that they forgot so as to add any meat to her function and hoped she’d carry the character together with her pure charisma. Kajol’s Vidya Jyothi, who goes by “VJ”, is goofy, near her widespread roles in romantic comedies, as an alternative being a severe cop. Whereas Kajol has tried her finest to ship with no matter little she was given, the blame lies with the writers for underutilising a refined actor like her. In case you aren’t her fan, her story arc will really feel stretched factor on a number of events.
One other space the place the movie falters is its stereotypical and regressive illustration of its feminine characters. Sanon’s twin sister is proven as a free lady, who drinks, has brief hair, wears seductive outfits, goes clubbing and flirts with males. Why are we nonetheless sticking to those idiotic tropes in 2024 and feeding the patriarchal beast. Shailee is painted with a singular brush, and there are not any different shades to her character. She is meant to be villainous and scheming, so after all she’s not consistent with what our “tradition” deems righteous. Or is it in order that she’s robotically labelled evil simply because she drinks or likes to decorate up? Whereas Saumya’s extraordinarily introverted behaviour might be attributed to her trauma, the movie might have — and actually, ought to have — averted Shailee’s model from the witchcraft period.
Regardless of its flaws, the movie does a advantageous job in its illustration of patriarchy, violence in opposition to ladies, childhood trauma and its deep-seated impression. In a disturbing scene from the movie, we see Dhruv brutally beating Saumya. He pulls her hair, kicks her within the guts mercilessly, rolls her like a soccer, throws her over the steps and leaves her blood-soaked on the ground. Ultimately, he candidly throws away the standard “why did you set off my anger” assertion.
The complete sequence is well-performed and boils your blood to the extent the place you’d really feel like coming into the display screen and punching Sheikh’s character. Whereas it is disturbing and might be triggering for victims of abuse, it is usually one of the crucial highly effective scenes within the movie. It not solely exhibits the brutality of home violence in opposition to ladies but additionally the sick and twisted psyches of monsters who perpetrate abuse.
The movie additionally boasts some wonderful performances, particularly by Sanon and Sheikh. Sanon has accomplished an excellent job at enjoying twin roles and is equally convincing in each of them. Her characters have been rigorously written, infused with the smallest features of the human behaviour in consideration. There’s a scene the place Saumya is pushed into paragliding for the primary time, regardless of having extreme acrophobia, and halfway by way of the exercise, she will get teary-eyed pondering of her useless mom. It’s such a shifting illustration of how the grief one could be carrying can subconsciously erupt with even the slightest push, reminding us that it was ready beneath the floor all this whereas. Whereas the Nationwide award-winning actor has given a number of spectacular performances earlier as properly, particularly in Mimi, she has outdone herself on this Netflix unique.
The best way Do Patti handles and portrays the themes of childhood trauma, sibling rivalries, home violence, abuse, and the objectification of ladies is kind of spectacular. It intimately explores even the smallest particulars of those tough themes, complemented by good performances. Nonetheless, brilliance is available in patches. If solely the movie had higher pacing or fixed momentum all through its runtime — and averted dangerous stereotypes — it might have accomplished justice to the vital points it makes an attempt to discover. Movies coping with such delicate themes should be extra charming to attraction to a bigger viewers. Do Patti handles its subject material in spectacular methods — it has its intentions in the suitable place. However it struggles to determine itself as an excellent thriller.
Ranking: 6.5/10
