Qala is a drama film written and directed by Anvita Dutt and stars Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan and Amit Sial, alongside other cast members. The movie has a runtime of 120 minutes.
Netflix’s description of the movie reads:
Haunted by her past, a talented singer with a rising career copes with the pressure of success, a mother’s disdain and the voices of doubt within her.
– Qala Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
There’s something just so sad about Qala, both the movie and the character, that you root for her even in her darkest times. Much like Clean Slate Filmz’s Bulbbul, which still haunts me after 2 years, writer-director Anvita Dutt’s dark and brooding tale of a woman pushed to her limits might ring true for many.
Whether you’re in the entertainment industry or not, there’s something so brutally relatable about the movie that you can’t help but be glued to the screen and have your heart broken one piece at a time. From the first moment that we see baby Qala in her mother’s arms (played scarily well by Swastika Mukherjee), you know she is doomed.
Doomed to be in a life that will never truly be the best – in a life where her goals will always be just a touch away. It’s a story about all of us, how it’s so human to want that acceptance and love from those we see from our first moments on Earth, as well as a story of being good enough. Interestingly though, the second part of that sentence is such an unfair term because, honestly, ‘good enough’ is such a relative term.
Qala, much like Bulbbul, is also about how women are perceived in the world in different ways. What are women to the other sex? What are the rules that divide the ‘us’ and the ‘them’? Who created these rules? From the first moment of our protagonist’s journey down a career, which eventually becomes the cause of her disdain, she is told that she will have to work twice as hard as her male counterparts to achieve the same fame and respect.
Also Read: Netflix’s Bulbbul Review: Hell Hath No Fury as a Woman Scorned
Isn’t that something that women are told even today? The movie takes place years back into the past, but interestingly and sadly, we don’t forget to tell the women around us to work harder, all the while holding together our ever-fragile dignity lest it breaks like glass. You want to hug Qala, who struggles to find her identity and be seen and tell her that she is enough as she pines for her mother’s approval and battles against jealousy.
As she goes through immense heartbreak and realises all too well from the closest of quarters that her life will be tougher, even at home, your heart breaks with her. The look of despair and disbelief in her eyes as she becomes privy to the truth of the world will haunt you, maybe because, at some point, we have also realised some harsh truths that we were not previously privy to.
There’s a sadness and pain in Qala that never really goes away. You feel that pain for everyone as all the characters implode into themselves, eventually facing an inevitable end that comes full circle. It also reminds us to make the best of the moment, either personally or professionally, because life is just so short and fleeting.
Triptii Dimri is just so good in and as Qala. Her life, which is a tragedy from the get-go but so full of potential, feels like a catastrophe waiting to happen. One, tragically, that could’ve been avoided with some love and care, something that Swastika Mukherjee, playing her mother, could never muster up to give her. Making his Bollywood debut, there’s a mystery in Babil Khan’s Jagan, who brings the main conflict in a story already rife with it.
Apart from excellent performances, Qala has some excellent moody cinematography that just screams tragedy. Somewhere, it reminded me of Lootera (no, they aren’t remotely similar story-wise). The beautiful landscapes of Devisthan, Himachal, make for the perfect landscape for our protagonist’s tragic life – its cold and unrelenting surroundings create the space for her to keep her sadness frozen.
Qala Review: Final Thoughts
Anvita Dutt creates hard-hitting stories, ones that resonate with you in a million different ways. Qala isn’t anything different. For those who like slow-paced drama-thrillers, this one’s going to be a treat. It’s a tragedy like no other, one that will haunt you, just like her previous directorial venture.
Qala is streaming on Netflix.