The Movie ‘Pagglait’ Gives An Insight On Our Society’s View Of Grief

I recently watched the movie Paglait on Netflix and it is an eye-opener to the society we live in when it comes to dealing with death and grief. 

“Ladki log ko jab akal atti hai na, to unhe paglait kehte hai!”
– Sandhya from Paglait.

The movie revolves around a young widow, Sandhya who has not yet developed any feelings, love or craze for her husband, Astik. His demise hardly moves her. In fact, she gets the urge to quench her thirst with a special demand for Pepsi, for which her own mother calls her crazy for being demanding! Funny, but howling for a son-in-law’s demise makes the loss more evident when I see the daughter least affected.

True grief must know what to grieve for

The characters assemble one by one in the family home, with heavy bags and plans to be there till 13th day of the ritual after death. They have no plans of leaving and grab every opportunity to gossip now and then! Where the  Damaad of house doesn’t let go of any opportunity to flaunt his meagre knowledge of things people didn’t know. Be it Shakespeare, or vocabulary or knowledge of internet.

The next best part of the movie was to showcase all the ooohhhh…. Aahhhh…. Sshhhhh….. moments with utter beautification. Where a teenage girl opens up about periods in front of the family. Even the talk of kissing between the teenagers taught us that these days kids don’t need upbringing like us. We used to zap the channel or move to the kitchen to quench thirst when a bold scene popped up on TV!

Even, Astik’s brother abstaining from cigarette and drinking for the 13 days of mourning was a sign of hypocrisy. He later confronts tayaji by pointing to his drink on the terrace!

Pressure to look sad and howl louder

White is sad not peace. White is the colour which mixes with any other colour to lessen the agony of the notion. But a girl must wear white when the husband dies. I demand to know why. Deaths are those times when there is extreme pressure to look sad.

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Death and age aren’t friends. A son setting fire to the pyre of father is acceptable. But wohooo, special discounts if scenario is vice-versa! I mean is this a way of showing courtesy?

The less sad will howl louder. This is even my personal experience which is reflected  in the movie, where the door ke relatives will howl more than the immediate family. Why? Because it shows you are sad! No damn, coz Khali bartan zyada awaaz karta hai!

Conveniently open-minded 

• When you are really sad, make sure you look sad too. Sucking food, colourless environment, blah, blah, blah.
• Breaking steoretypes is the another task this movie plays so well. All muslim eats non-veg just like every yellow thing is gold!
• When Nazia enters the scene, Tayaji repeats her surname to emphasise the presence of a muslim in the pandits residence. Moreover she was served coffee, tea in a different cup in an open minded household. The family who can think of remarrying daughter-in-law in just 13 days later of demise of their son can’t serve tea in the same cup like theirs to a muslim guest!
• Death, money, siyappa!- Everyone was drooling for 50 millions other than the one who possesses it. Even Rashmi Giri’s son got ready to marry his cousin’s widow in the name of love to gulp that 50 millions.  As he loses all expectations from getting any loan from his penniless uncle. Sandhya plays an epic role in front of Rashmi’s son, by saying what for that you must watch it.

Sandhya, a young widow who soars high by the end of the movie is a must watch as she brings out the true hypocrisy of the society.

Image courtesy – Netflix

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