Angry Indian Goddesses  Movie Review

Angry Indian Goddesses contains every cliché you’d expect to see in a film that’s been billed as ‘India’s first female buddy movie’. From women getting facials together, to playing Truth or Dare…from talking frankly about sex and ogling the dishy neighbor, to polishing off a box of cupcakes…the film ticks all the boxes. Yet it seldom feels contrived, thanks to the natural performances of its ensemble, and director Pan Nalin’s non-intrusive, observational style of filming. Still I’m going with three out of five for Angry Indian Goddesses. Using humor and pathos, it raises pertinent questions. You’ll be happy to spend two hours in the company of these ladies.

. As long as the film stays with the lives of its characters, it does well. In the first half, it is breezy, its vocabulary remains conversational and is genuinely palpable. Alas, the story is never supported by a solid screenplay. The film’s pace is a problem and though things gear up in the second half, it ends as a loopy mess. When the predictable climax hits with all its cliches, you feel disinterested. Angry Indian Goddesses is a decent watch if you keep you expectations in check. It is a perfect example of how anger does very little good afterall.

Even if there are too many of them to focus exclusively on and the issues remain predictable, Angry Indian Goddesses triumphs in its collective chemistry and sisterhood. Considering the treatment it got by the censor board, I don’t know if Angry Indian Goddesses changes anything. Still, it’s so good to see a film that revels in womanhood as much as this one.

Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses, on one level, is a charmingly jaunty film powered by peppy performances. But under its cool, casual and cheeky chitchat on matters both saucy and solemn, it is also a trenchant study of a society festering from within. Angry Indian Goddesses is a must-see and not only because it is unlike anything Hindi cinema has produced before. It strikes a fine and rare balance between thematic gravitas and breezy entertainment.

These are flesh-and-blood women, and the film is delightful till they stay that way. Being labelled ‘goddesses’ seems like a ploy to reel in non-Indians looking for exotica, something the director does well. It doesn’t do these lovely ladies any favours.

Ultimately, Angry Indian Goddesses is a decent watch as long as the fun lasts but tumbles downhill with gathering pace as the ‘anger’ kicks in. Watch it for its good acting, the director’s bravery in picking his premise and protagonists, but don’t expect a statement on feminism or a revolutionary Bollywood film’. You will be sorely disappointed.