Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga had a very specific goal. That was to make a pro-lesbian romance movie with mainstream appeal in India. While there are faults and overused cliches in Ek Ladki, I respect that goal and do think this movie is largely successful in appealing to a straight audience.

Ek Ladki is structured liked a classic romance. It’s told from the point of view of Sahil, an uninspired playwright and classic, bland male lead. Sahil has a chance meeting with beautiful Sweety. Sweety is running from her angry brother who disapproves of the love affair that causes her to visit the city. Inspired by the difficulties of Sweety’s life, Sahil then goes to her small town to profess his feelings. He also takes along a caterer named Chatro who has dreams of being an actress. Subsequently, Sahil meets Sweety’s wacky relatives and friends. These include the staff who bet on her relationship, her father who dreams of being a chef and grandmother who likes to hide things in her bra and adhere to strict gender roles. Finally, it is revealed that Sweety’s secret lover is a woman and Sahil makes it his goal to have her family accept her.

My initial struggle with Ek Ladki is that it buries the lead on the whole being a queer movie thing. It goes so far as to have a male character as the lead in this lesbian film. I understand why they did this. Sahil is the audience conduit and having a straight, male lead might help attract a broader audience to this movie. However, it is still frustrating that this story about lesbian romance and acceptance is from the point of view of someone who’s not a lesbian.

And as for the lesbian character, it takes until the second act for it to be revealed that Sweety is a lesbian. The first act really does play into the assumption that Sahil and Sweety and the romantic couple. This can be funny in hindsight or if you know the “twist” of the movie. But still, it does mean that the first act is basically an intentionally average and predictable first act of a romance film with a presumed heterosexual lead couple.

Past the first act though, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga won me over. The more I understood how much it was trying to appeal to a mainstream, heterosexual audience, the more I understood and respected what it was trying to do. Ek Ladki is trying to make its presumed straight audience feel safe and not challenged by this queer movie. Ek Ladki is pushing for acceptance of queer love and its way of doing that is through adhering to safe cliches and a straight point of view character. And I do think they do pretty well in having this film be very pro-gay but not overly challenging or subversive. This does mean that Sweety and her partner Kuhu never actually kiss. They share a lot of hugs and hold hands. But they do get a montage of have fun together while wearing very nice clothing so that’s something.

What really won me over with Ek Ladki is when they quite specifically show who they want the audience of their movie to be in the movie itself. Sahil’s plan to have Sweety be accepted is to stage her and her partner Kuhu’s love story as a fictional play. In the audience there is a young girl who connects with this play. The movie to makes a rather on the nose speech about representation and the hope that this story inspires girls in small towns and villages who feel alone or like they’re wrong. I think it’s a very admirable goal and I think the movie is successful with it.

While Ek Ladki deals with heavy topics of Sweety and her gay friend being bullied as children and her contemplating suicide, Ek Ladki is ultimately an uplifting and joyful movies. That’s not what all lesbian movies are. And there are even fewer Indian lesbian movies that are that. From my research, there’s only about eight Indian lesbian films. Of these eight, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is by far the happiest.

Is it unlikely that Sahil’s pro-gay acceptance play was so powerful that it caused Sweety’s father to not only accept her but understand homophobia on a deeper level and make a speech about it onstage? Yes. Of course that’s over the top. But I’m not going to criticize this movie for depicting hope. And even then, the movie is not wholly unrealistic. Many of the people in Sweety’s village find Sahil’s play disgusting and walk out. Progress is slower for some than others but at the end of the film, most of Sweety’s family supports her, she has a loving partner and she’s happy. I’m never going to be mad that that’s how a lesbian character ends up in a movie.

What most surprised me is that I ended up not hating Sahil. He had a great character arc especially once Sweety told him she was a lesbian. Sahil takes this rejection incredibly well. He actually says the line, “I came here looking for a girlfriend. I found something even better. A friend.” Sahil then spends the remainder of the movie becoming the only valid straight ally. Not only does he offer support and understanding to Sweety, he concocts this elaborate scheme of writing a pro-gay play just to get Sweety’s family to support her. And finally, in the third act, he flies in Sweety’s girlfriend from London. Incredible. The movie even restrains himself from giving Sahil some new, beautiful love interest that he’s “earned” from being a decent guy. It’s kind of amazing.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is broad, cliche and hardly subversive beyond the whole gay thing. But for the audience it’s trying to reach, that is subversive enough. I respect this movie’s intentions and ultimately, I think it did well in executing them. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is a charming, hopeful movie that I genuinely hope girls from small towns can watch and feel less alone.

Ovearll rating: 6.7/10

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