Dolly Kitty Aur Wo Chamakte Sitare

Dolly Kitty aur wo Chamakte Sitare released on Netflix on 18 September 2020. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, after her acclaimed but controversial Lipstick Under my Burkha, movie stars Bhumi Pednekar, Konkana Sen Sharma, Vikrant Massey and Aamir Basheer in lead roles.

Plot

Movie starts with Kajal (Bhoomi) moving to Noida in search of a job, staying at her cousin Dolly’s (Konkana) place. Dolly is a middle class working lady with 2 kids, who is excited as she is going to move into their new under construction flat.

Kajal moves out from Dolly’s house to a hostel, as she is not comfortable with Dolly’s husband’s behaviour with her and starts working as a call centre agent (under the name Kitty) for a romantic dating app. She meets Pradeep (Vikrant Massey) and falls in love with him without knowing that he is married with a child.

Dolly, who already is suffocated in her emotionally abusive marriage, with her husband labelling her as frigid, comes across a delivery boy Usmaan and develops feelings for him. Dolly then discovers her son’s fetish for dolls and his feminine side which drains her emotionally.

Dolly one day gets to know about the nature of Kajal’s job and confronts her. Kajal on the other hand gets critical of Dolly’s life and the altercation leads them to open up to each other for the first time. 

Both Dolly and Kitty realise that none of them is happy in life and each has their own share of challenges be it in workspace or love and married life. Both then decide to take a stand for themselves and how they finally make things going for themselves is the film all about.

The Hits

The writing of the movie is solid and the characters are very well defined, which is a huge plus. The film has some very good performances from both Konkana as Dolly and Bhumi as Kitty along with Aamir and Vikrant. 

Alankrita’s direction is top notch and she has built up the narrative brilliantly. Casting is very good and so is the locations and raw feel of the film.

The film opens up debates about a number of topics which usually are not that easily talked about, be it sexual desires of females, or orientations, or be it the day to day issues which ideally not even are considered to be an issue, which is laudable. 

Film also mentions the challenges which flat buyers are facing with years of savings getting stuck into under construction buildings, though not much relevant to the theme of the movie, but adds to the storyline.

The scenes where Dolly confronts Kajal and they open up, or be it the scene when Dolly interacts with her mother asking her why she left her as a child are very good and impactful. 

The scene when Dolly’s son dressed as a girl and when confronted says – Ghar chal kar maar lena, abhi toh enjoy kar lene do, adds to the message that the film wants to pass across, regarding freedom of choices.

The Misses

This film feels more like an extension of Alankrita’s last film Lipstick Under My Burkha. Film tries to touch upon a number of topics without even giving them closure or much importance in the screenplay. 

A random mention of Kajal being from backward caste, or a random goon hitting Usman has no relevance to the narrative. Most of the subplots are ended abruptly or not developed like Karan Kundra’s or Kubra Sait’s role, which could have been handled better.

Performances

Performances are the highlight of this film. Konkana Sen as Dolly has given a stellar performance and showcases why she is rated so highly. Bhumi as Kajal/Kitty has also fitted in perfectly.

Aamir Basheer as Dolly’s husband will make you hate him and Amol Parasher’s Usmaan will make you love him and that’s how well they have performed. 

Vikrant Massey fits his role well and so does Neelima Azmi in her cameo. Karan Kundra and Kubbra Sait don’t get much to do and are ok.

FFC Take

Overall, being a niche film, Dolly Kitty Aur Wo Chamakte Sitare is a nice film with some very impactful performances. This film is for a certain section of audiences, it makes you think and makes you uncomfortable at some places but deserves a watch.