‘I am a mother and mother has no dreams.’ This dialogue of ‘Panga’, directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, will find every woman who has lost her identity by forgetting her dreams for her family and children. Then comes a dialogue in the film, where the heroine tells her husband, ‘I am very happy to see you, I am happy to see it (son), but I am not happy when I see myself Paati ‘and then begins the heroine’s battle for her existence and her struggle to prove herself superior.
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Jaya Nigam (Kangana Ranaut) was once the national player and captain of the kabaddi, but now she is the mother of the son of 7-year-old son Aditya alias Adi (Yajna Bhasin) and wife of Prashant (Jassi Gill). Jaya is happy in her small world. Kabaddi has given him a railway job and his life is passing between household, child and job responsibilities. Then one day an incident happens in the house that Jaya’s son Adi motivates him to come back to Kabaddi at the age of 32 years. At first, Jaya falsely pretends to practice Comeback with her husband Prashant, but in the process, her submerged dreams start raising her head again. Now she really wants to come back to live her golden phase by coming back to the national team of India. In this journey, her husband and son are together, her mother (Neena Gupta), best friend Meenu (Richa Chadha) who is also a kabaddi coach and player, gives her all kinds of support.
The quality of Ashwini Iyer Tiwari as a director is that the nuances with which she portrayed the working woman of a small town like Bhopal and her middle-class family on-screen adds strength to the story. Ashwini talks about women empowerment through the characters of Jaya, Meenu, and mother Nina Gupta, but nowhere do these characters get preppy. In one scene, Jaya says, ‘Every time a woman is asked why she is forced by her husband or household to give up her career. It can also be his own choice. ‘ In fact, Ashwini wants to say through ‘panga’ that the woman should be given the right to be screwed with her choice. The first half of the film seems a bit long, but in the second half, the story runs towards its destination. Ashwini has maintained the thrill of the game like kabaddi with the texture of human relationships. The dialogues written by Nikhil Malhotra and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari are tight. Jai Patel’s cinematography is visible and Ballu Saluja has cut the film in true style. The music of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy suits the theme.
Kangana has played the character of Jaya Nigam as Effortless and Flawless. Whether it is his dress or body language, every aspect makes his character memorable. Instead of doing melodrama in the emotional scenes, Kangana has made him live with the twinge that your eyes cannot remain moist. He has lived both aspects of housewife and kabaddi player. Richa Chadha’s acting acts as a relief in the film. His dialogue and body language are spoken in Bihari Accent entertain immensely. The chemistry between the scenes between him and Kangana is seen. Jassi Gill has a smooth acting role as a supportive husband. His pairing with Kangana looks good.
Despite limited scenes, Neena Gupta leaves her mark. Child artist Yagya Bhasin has proved to be the attraction of the film. They captivate everyone with their innocent performances.