TIFF Review: Kiran Rao’s ‘Lost Ladies’ is a Joyful Revelation from India

by Alex Billington
September 25, 2023

There’s a delightful little film from the 2023 Toronto Film Festival that deserves to become a hit worldwide. It’s called Lost Ladies, originally titled Laapataa Ladies, and it’s one of the best discoveries out of the fall film festivals this year. It just premiered at TIFF and it’s scheduled to open in India in early 2024; I’m hopeful distributors worldwide are picking up on it and making plans, especially as more and more of us rave about this film. Lost Ladies is the latest feature film made by Indian filmmaker Kiran Rao, director of the 2010 movie Mumbai Diaries before this (she has mostly been working as a producer on other projects over the past decade). The fun-for-everyone mainstream comedy is about how everything becomes a “jolly mess” when two young brides get swapped while on a train; set in 2001, somewhere in rural India. The story follows two brides, and their husbands, who get off at the wrong station and end up in the wrong town just before their weddings. It allows everyone some time to finally wonder: is this what they really want in life?

The screenplay for Lost Ladies is by Sneha Desai, from a story by Biplab Goswami. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s based on a real story, as something like this could happen easily. In the film, new brides Jaya (played by Pratibha Ranta) and Phool (played by Nitanshi Goel) cross paths on a crowded train one day. They are veiled in crimson, filigreed marital saris, both with designs that look quite similar. When the first husband, the timid Deepak (played Sparsh Shrivastava), rushes out of the train when they reach their stop late at night, he grabs the wrong woman and thus begins this swap story. As this is the start, it becomes something else entirely. The film subverts expectations with an obvious yet wholesome “not everyone is what they seem on the surface” message, and along the way every single character’s true inner nature is revealed. From the policeman who is assigned to the case, to the two husbands, to others who help each of them, they’re not all who they seem and the story continues to go in new directions as each of them try to figure out what is next. One of the brides does not want to go back to her husband, the other does but has no clue how to find him.

The whole time watching this film, one of my thoughts was “someone in Hollywood is going to remake this as a fun romantic comedy” but that thought also makes me cringe. It’s ideal for an English-language remake, because the story is so amusing and kooky and exactly the perfect plot for a movie that makes anyone laugh. However, that’s the entire point here – this original film deserves as mention attention and love and success, even if it’s all in Hindi. Rao’s Lost Ladies progresses into a wonderfully inspiring & empowering story for the women of India. One of the brides befriends local vagrants who work at the train station and becomes an assistant to an older woman who runs a food stand there. She learns how to work on her own and manage her life by herself, without a man dictating her every move and insisting she must be the housekeeper. The other bride is trying to escape an abusive man (and others), learning how to appreciate the help & support of kind men, especially the nice groom who is desperate to find his own lost bride. There are numerous campy yet endearing scenes in this where the writing strongly encourages women to resist traditions and express themselves honestly, passionately, and confidently – in whatever way makes them feel happy and satisfied.

I loved watching Rao’s Lost Ladies, a delightful comedy surprise from India. A wonderful film for the times we’re in that not-so-subtly motivates all women to evolve and grow beyond men. There is still a love story at the heart of the film, about how love grows stronger when two are separated. Though it has so much more to offer than just that. It’s a worthy discovery and a charming film for any viewer of any kind to enjoy. I hope it finds great success not only in India when it opens in theaters there, but also everywhere around the world.

Alex’s TIFF 2023 Rating: 9 out of 10
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