You are bound to feel liberated when you go through Pagglait, the recent Netflix film running close to a neat 2 and never deviating from its core theme of our society’s entrenched regressive lens on young widows who are unfortunately, still treated as bonded labors. Director Umesh Bisht and his team shell out an endearing take on this sensitive issue with a lens of subtle humor and brilliant performances from its cast.

Smartly written with a sharper screenplay, Pagglait weaves around Sandhya Giri ( Sanya Malhotra), who loses her husband Astik within 5 months of her marriage. Her relatives from both the sides are not regressive, with one of them claiming “ hum log kaafi open minded hai, beti ke saamne puri zindagi padi hai , dusri shaadi kara do uski“, but neither open minded as they squirm from Sandhya’s vegetarian muslim friend’s Nazia’s ( Shruti Sharma) presence . Their paradoxical attitude is baffling, and as immediate family mourn’s with relatives slowly crippling in the sprawling ancient haveli, this chasm keeps growing bigger and confounding. But as the entire family live through the funeral and mourning of 13 days, Sandhya discovers an unwanted truth about her husband and why their marriage was so loveless, and along with that, she rediscovers her own self and her identity . Sandhya is crazy, but her heart rules over head !.

Its a terrific show all around, as Pagglait boasts of an ensemble cast who masquerade with flesh and blood in this stifling environment . You get to witness a string of interesting characters with a doze of gray shades – Tayyaji ( Raghubir Yadav) , the family patriach who holds the reign of the family but is borderline conservative, Tarun ( Rajesh Tailang) , Astik’s younger uncle who takes the funeral as an oppurtunity to stabilize himself financially. Another uncle who is a banker by profession quotes Shakespere even when not required and Astik’s ageing grandmother who speaks through her eyes constantly. The funeral also witnesses a bunch of garrulous women gossiping about each other .

The film’s biggest strength lies in its clever writing , especially in the sharp jibes the relatives constantly throw at each other. In a terrific scene where the insurance agent discloses in front of the entire family the amount of money that Sandhya will get as a beneficiary, Sandhya’s mother quickly takes charge and ensures she signs the papers quickly, while the other family members look dumbfounded with the proceedings. The immediate scenes after that reflects the double standards of Sandhya’s mother and Astik’s uncles. Moments like these are many and are pure gold. The makers focus primarily on Sandhya as how she navigates through these 13 days to realize why she was never meant to be here . She is double MA holder in English, but was forcibly married under parental pressure. She could never get the love from Astik because he was in love with other women Aakansha Roy ( Sayani Gupta) , a smart independent women. Sandhya’s develops a gradual rapport with Aakansha and realizes her impending passion to break free from the shackles the society has clutched her into . This entire process is so subtle and beautifully portrayed , making it one of the high points of the film.

Fallibles – yes. Sandhya’s muslim friend angle seems forced, especially when Nazia has nothing to do except following Sandhya’s and her mother commands. Also, a small love track between two cousins of the family felt irrelevant . But these are sore points in a compelling film which can be easily overlooked. Sanya Malhotra is brilliant as Sandhya, rendering an effortless performance without any hiccups. She keeps it consistently simple, and powers her way to glory in a role which offers her ample scope to exhibit her acting chops. Ashutosh Rana is fantastic as her father in law, understated and precise. He brings out his angst and helplessness through his undulating voice which is extremely powerful. In one of the scenes where he and Sandhya go through the expenses, you are bound to feel choked with emotions . Sheeba Chaddha as Sandhya’s mother in law is efficient as always, matching up step to step with a bunch of talented actors including Raghubir Yadav and Rajesh Tailang.

Flushed with riveting performances all around , Pagglait is an entertaining film, but at the core of it is a stringent attack to the inherent chauvinism entrenched in our society. As i pointed out earlier, one is bound to feel liberated by the end of it. I am going with 4 out of 5 for Pagglait, streaming on Netflix . Its easily one of the best film released in 2021 and is worth a watch from your couch !