Recently, the trailer of Taapsee Pannu’s film Thappad released that captured attention of many netizens. In Indian society, where it is perceived normal for a husband to hit a wife, the movie Thappad focuses on a very critical subject of domestic abuse in marriages.
A section of viewers believes that Thappad is a perfect “answer” to Kabir Singh, starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani, which opened to tremendous box office numbers despite its toxicity and misogynistic view of romance.
Also Read: Dear Indian Men, Please Don’t Let Kabir Singh Influence You, You Can Do Better!
During a recent media interaction with IANS, Taapsee shared why she feels Thapaad isn’t an answer to Kabir Singh, rather to a much bigger issue:
“It’s not that we have made this film keeping Kabir Singh in mind. I feel very sad when I hear people saying that ‘we have made a film to give an answer to another film’. This film was written before the release of Kabir Singh. I feel the thappad(slap) is only a trigger, but there are so many other things that will unfold about relationships in this film,”
She further shared how many other films besides Kabir Singh have mishandled scenes where women were slapped by men:
“There are thousands of films where women have been slapped by men and what’s new about it? That film has only been the latest one and that’s why people feeling this way. It’s trivialising to say that Thappad is an answer to Kabir Singh, because its way beyond that,”
Adding further, she mentioned:
“I feel people shouldn’t leave their brain at home while watching a film. Kabir Singh collected a lot of money and I congratulate the makers of that film, but I wouldn’t have done that film had I been offered Kabir Singh’s part and obviously, I would have never done the girl’s part,”
It is saddening to see how our patriarchal mindset trains women to suffer in silence. As per a recent survey, Indian women largely justify domestic abuse, with 54.8% of women between the ages of 40 and 49 being the most supportive of it.
Watch the trailer here:
At IFORHER, we believe it is high time we start having a conversation about domestic abuse because our women don’t deserve blue eyes or broken. What they deserve are dignity and respect.