Sanya Malhotra starrer Pagglait is a tale of woman that stands out with its so many layers

Directed by Umesh Bist, Pagglait stars Sanya Malhotra, Sayani Gupta, Ashutosh Rana, Raghubir Yadav, Shruti Sharma, Sheeba Chaddha, Sharib Hashmi, Aasif Khan, Rajesh Tailang, Meghna Malik. The movies sees Sandhya (Sanya) break some norms as she does not react the traditional way to her husband's death, whom she did not know very well. While she is not your typical widow crying over her husband's death, she does have to face what her family is trying to force upon her, and in the process, she breaks free, in more ways than one.

On the face of it, there might seem to be so many things wrong with a wife not crying over her husband, but there is so much that is going on in her mind. While one might think that she is in trauma and still trying to deal with it, as the story unravels, we know that is not the case when she tells her best friend Nazia Zaidi (Shruti) that she can't get herself to cry and is also rather hungry. 

While it is true that we have fit every feeling into a box and if it doesn't stick to that, it often means that something may be wrong, but well, this film teaches us to unlearn, and then learn some more. This movie is not just about showing our grief can be dealt with in more ways than just one, but it also shows how marriages continue to be treated as the one truly good thing that there is about life. 

As we see Sandhya learn about her husband's past, his love (Sayani), and who he was in the first place, she comes to an understanding that she barely knew him. And well, maybe that is why she doesn't feel a lot of things she must, 5 months into the marriage. An educated woman, she is stuck at home, teaching her brother-in-law English, even when she can do so much. 

Pagglait is an absolute slap on everything that this country needs to get over, including things like 'log kya kahenge' or the patriarchy that continues to exist, and the so many societal norms that we continue to build upon, even though they must be broken. The movie may not be perfect, but it is a very strong attempt at being all things that we must understand in the day and age we are living in.

While the sheer thought behind this movie is one that I absolutely love and am rooting for, Sanya Malhotra is yet another highlight, as always. She has given out a powerful performance, one where she is not ready to conform, or simply give in. Nonetheless, we are not saying that she isn't flawed. With great support from the cast of the movie, Sanya carries the film to the very end and doesn't stumble even for once.

Rating - ***1/2 (3.5/5)