Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

Wonderfully enacted, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a tale about a woman's transformation from a simple village belle to a high-profile escort girl.

The story is set in Varanasi and revolves around two sisters Badki (Rani Mukerji) and Chutki (Konkona Sen) who watch helplessly as their cash-strapped parents try to retain possession of their ancestral house.

While mum (Jaya Bachchan) slogs tirelessly to keep the home fires burning, ailing dad (Anupam Kher) keeps reminding the family that they would have been better off if they had had a son.

Badki moves to Mumbai looking for work, and finds this in the world's oldest profession.

How the simple village belle takes to her new-found vocation is the high point of the film.

Rani and Konkona, who's cast as a liberated contemporary Indian woman, do their bit well. But it's veteran Jaya who steals the show with a stellar performance.

The other characters – Abhishek Bachchan and Kunal Kapoor – don't have meaty roles and sure enough, have very little to do. The plot shifts from Varanasi to Mumbai and back are hardly exciting. And songs shot in Switzerland and bhangra numbers that appear out of nowhere don't add any value either.

Pradeep Sarkar is a skilful film-maker who is essentially known for his finesse. Yet, much like his earlier movie Parineeta, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag also falters towards the end. Sarkar needs to address this as the audience is left unsatisfied at the film's inadequate and incomplete finale.

The writer is Creative and Programming Head, Zee TV, Middle East.

Stars Out Of Five: Four

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Konkona Sen, Abhishek Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Jaya Bachchan

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