Lost Ladies: Finding My TIFF 23 Winner

Posted on October 20, 2023 | by Priya Chopra

Director Kiran Rao is back after many years of Dhobi Ghat (TIFF ’10) with comedy Lost Ladies. The film is set in Madhya Pradesh (MP), a state which has a rich history of theatre acting.

Lost Ladies is a comedy-satire where two brides are mixed up on the train. Set in the early 2000s when there were mobile phones, but not so much cell phone towers in India is important to understanding why the two brides remain lost for quite some time. The ghoonghat was the traditional veil that covered the face of a newly minted bride, so the groom, Deepak (Sparsh Shrivastava), takes the wrong bride to his village. Jaya (Pratibha Ranta) and Phool (Nitanshi Goel) are the two brides who get mixed up, or laapataa as one would say in Hindi. Upon reaching, Deepak and his family realize the truth, and the story unfolds with both brides.

“The idea of keeping it light, of trying very hard not to villainize anyone, but expose things for the way they are. I find much of society, not just Indian society, quite like living satire in so many ways. Then you don’t really need to do very much other than show it for what it is, and keep it in that tone, in some way hopeful and optimistic in what otherwise can be quite despairing times, was very much the goal.”

image: @aamirkhanproductions/Instagram

The film is based on “Two Brides” by Biplab Goswami, one of the scripts that won the Cinestaan India Storytellers Contest. Aamir Khan was a jury member and is one of the producers of the film. Sneha Desai and Divyanidhi Sharma then worked on the script, keeping Goswami’s vision.

“The script talks about women and opportunities and ideas that I’m very attracted to, especially freedoms for women,” Rao tells Variety. “The idea of these two girls on an adventure, trying to find their way, trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, how they can make the best of what’s been given to them, jumping off that train — it was very exciting to see what we could do with two young girls who come from very different head spaces, but ended up being changed by this swap.”

The film focuses on many different issues that not only affect women, but the entire system of patriarchy. Lost Ladies uses humour, without being preachy or earnest. There is a battle women still face everyday, and the humour is actually quite tragic when one thinks about it.

“The idea of keeping it light, of trying very hard not to villainize anyone, but expose things for the way they are. I find much of society, not just Indian society, quite like living satire in so many ways. Then you don’t really need to do very much other than show it for what it is, and keep it in that tone, in some way hopeful and optimistic in what otherwise can be quite despairing times, was very much the goal,” Rao says.

Rao has worked as an assistant director on Monsoon Wedding and Lagaan. She has also produced Dangal, Secret Superstar, and Delhi Belly. I ran into Rao on King Street one evening and was just amazed by her humility and warm kindness. She blushed when I told her how much I loved Lost Ladies, and said we need to see more work from Kiran Rao. To turn serious topics, stigmas, and cultural norms into comedic relief and satire is no easy task. It reminds me of the likes of Roberto Benigni who brought us the Oscar winning Life is Beautiful (La vita e Bella) back in 2007.

The officer Shyam Manohar (Ravi Kishan) was the real hero for me. He is so poignant as a crooked cop, but soon we start to see compassion and empathy in him as the story unfolds. I also loved Manju Mai (Chhaya Kadam) who has a fantastic maternal presence on screen as the chai stall owner at the train station, and superstar Nitanshi Goel whose curiosity and anxiety found a place of calm on her own journey.

This was my favourite film at TIFF 2023. I hope you get a chance to see it and enjoy it too.

Lost Ladies will be released January 5, 2024 across India.