Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the movie Pagglait, proceed with caution.
I read somewhere once that grief moves. And while there are always a hundred meanings you can attach to a line, I think this one means that grief changes form. Pagglait is a movie about grief changing forms.
Sandhya is a young widow whose husband, Astik, dies just months after their wedding. However, she doesn’t feel the sadness. At least not in the way everyone expects her to. She is able to make jokes, wants to eat, and can’t bring herself to cry.
Meanwhile, other members in the family (some of them pretending to get along because of the situation), act like everyone typically acts during a sad time like this.
In the 13-day mourning period, their lives change. Mostly, Sandhya’s. She discovers herself. Without going into the plot more than I have already, here are some moments from the film that totally make it worth your time.
1. When Sandhya, lying on the bed, is reading comments on the Facebook page announcing her husband’s demise.
2. And when she asks for Pepsi, leaving everyone shocked.
3. When an elder member in the family scolds Astik’s brother for smoking during the mourning period and he calls him out for drinking.
4. When Astik’s father tells people on the ghat that he is carrying his son’s ashes, after they tell him they give ‘discounts’.
This scene is important because it shows how we commercialise everything, including death.
5. When Sandhya finds a picture of Astik’s lover, Akansha, in his almirah.
6. And when Akansha assures Sadhya nothing happened between her and Astik after his marriage.
7. When Sandhya, after several meetings with Akansha, finally forgives Astik.
8. When Astik’s cousin proposes to Sandhya for marriage and at the exact same moment dadi decides to…you have to watch the movie for this one.
9. When Sandhya invites her friend Nazia for the pooja.
Nazia is Muslim and Sandhya’s in-laws don’t even let her eat in the house. And so, Sandhya decides to revolt with her own small gesture in this moving scene.
10. When Sandhya tells dadi she is about to run away to start a new life.
11. And when she leaves letters for all her family members, assuring them that she will get back to them and that she is going because she really wants to do it.
12. And lastly, when Sandhya gives Akansha the photo Astik had kept of her.
Pagglait is a heartwarming movie that entertains you and also makes you introspect. I can’t recommend it enough.
All screenshots are taken from Netflix. You can watch the movie, here.