REVIEW: ANGITHEE THE FIREPOT (Hindi)

Producer-Rahat Kazmi, Tariq Khan and Zeba Sajid

Director- Rahat Kazmi

Star Cast- Ritu Rajput, Tariq Khan, Rahat Kazmi and Hussain Khan

Genre- Social

Rating- ***

Platform- ShemarooMe

Touchingly Heartwarming

Jyothi Venkatesh

The film revolves around the female protagonist, Firdous (Ritu Kanta), who plays the role of a housewife, mother, and daughter-in-law but also, wants to live secretly for herself.

She wishes to step out of the four walls and explore life, which is considered ‘childish’ in the words of her husband, Hameed (Tariq Khan).

She ends up falling for her husband’s rich friend Shahid (Rahat Kazmi), who shows her the other opulent side of life, which brings light to her otherwise monotonous daily routine.

The story goes smoothly with their clandestine meetings and a soft track in the background, long rides, and other adventures when her husband catches her stepping out in the middle of the night, when the story takes a U-turn. The role of a strict but kind-hearted father-in-law is played by Hussein Khan.

The plot is set in a small village in the peaceful Jammu where people listen to the radio most of the time and the TV trend has just started.

However, Hameed’s demand for TV goes in vain and he gets reprimanded by his stern father instead for listening to his wife and fulfilling her unnecessary demands like mobile & television.

Even when he realizes that his wife Firdous is spending more time on mobile, talking to someone day & night, he first tries to find the truth and not shriek or blabber as any other husband would do at that moment.

He does not shoot his straying wife or her paramour but requests his friend to save his family after observing the change in his wife’s nature. What happens later in the climax forms the pivotal crux of the story

Ritu Rajput has a great screen presence and carries off the complex role with ease on her slender shoulders.

The credit for making the viewer sympathize with her and not hate her ought to go to Rahat Kazmi for extracting the right emotional reaction from her.

Rahat Kazmi also is good but somewhere as a writer he falters with his co-writer and Kritika Rampal when his character as the friend of Hameed makes himself disgusting by literally pouncing on Firdous when he barges inside her bedroom when she is shown changing her garments. Hussain Khan who plays the conservative and rigid father of Hameed proves his mettle

To put it in a nutshell, Angithee (The firepot), released on April 9, 2021 on Shemaroo App, is a cute little but bold film based on a woman’s desires and happiness, which is very often ignored by society and women of the society are taken for granted.

Co-written by a female writer (Kritika Rampal) it highlights an ordinary woman’s mundane daily life, especially of someone who wants ‘more’ and more, not only in terms of material comforts but also sexually both of which her husband is not in a position to provide for her. I’d say that this is a film which you must not miss at any cost on the OTT platform Shemaroo