Laaga Chunari Mein Daag
Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Jaya Bachchan, Konkana Sen, Kunal Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Anupam Kher
Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Rating: ***
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is an indulgence of yet another Bollywood director’s obsession with the world’s oldest profession -- prostitution. Trouble is, this theme has been explored to the hilt in the recent past and Pradeep Sarkar’s attempt goes wasted.
After the phenomenal bore -- Ta Ra Rum Pum, it looked like Rani was back with a bang. The promos of Laaga Chunari… did look like it had got everything right. It was riding high on Pradeep Sarkar’s critically acclaimed Parineeta. It was Kunal Kapoor’s much-awaited second innings after Rang de Basanti and most importantly, Rani and Abhishek’s coming together after the latter’s marriage to Aishwarya. But Sarkar’s second film turns out to be quite mediocre.
Lagaa Chunari... is the tale of Badki (Rani Mukherjee) who enters the flesh trade to save her family from penury. Set by the ghats of Benares, the film begins by capturing vignettes of the two child-like sisters -- Chutki (Konkana Sen) and Badki -- of a father (Anupam Kher) who has failed to support his family and is all the more bitter for it, of a mother (Jaya Bachchan) who burns the midnight oil, trying to stitch petticoats to keep the kitchen fire burning.
Hopes of earning a neat pile of money comes the family’s way when an ad-film coordinator narrows down their haveli for a shoot. The deal, however, falls through. At around the some time, Kher suffers from a heart attack after a clerk at the electricity board insults him and makes a pass at his daughter. Things progressively worsen when the family is asked to vacate their house by a court order slapped on them by moustache-twirling relatives, which include Kher’s brother and nephew (Sushant).
Badki is convinced she can strike gold by landing in Mumbai. Her fate is, however, sealed and predictable from the beginning. She is a ‘tenth class pass’, can only knit and sew; has to support her younger sister’s education and her father’s increasing medical bills. In short, she becomes Natasha, a high-society escort. By the time the interval comes, you feel a good three hours have gone by.
The second half of the film is shot quite neatly though away from histrionics and havelis, where the track shifts to the fiesty Konkana and Kunal, whose chemistry is worth a dekho. The track is handled well, thanks to realistic situations, locations and brief but brilliant performances by both Konkana and Kunal. It revolves around Chutki’s arrival to Mumbai for work and her discovery of her sister’s profession.
Whether Rani will have a life after her family’s discovery of what she really does is the rest of the film. Much of this will also hang on Rohan (Abhishek Bachchan) with whom she has once had a brief rendezvous.
Laaga Chunari’s strengths lie in its cast’s compelling performances and gorgeous cinematography. But if Rani is seen crying once more, she might just end up being Bollywood’s next Meena Kumari.
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