Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare Movie Review: While I was searching for some details about Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, I came across its IMDB page. At the time of writing this review, the movie had a 3.8 rating there, with one sole user review that came with the title 'Stop these crap feminism movies'. The review is written by someone, who of course, hasn't seen the film but is scared of what it might show. It says, "Sleeping around is not liberation, stop feeding Indians with such definition of COOL!". Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare: After Busan Film Fest, Bhumi Pednekar to Watch Her Upcoming Netflix Film with Sister Samiksha Once Again.

I am not going to negate anything in the above review, that stands for those who see films like Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare for 'inspiring' women to sleep around. Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare, or its director Alankrita Shrivastava's earlier film, Lipstick Under My Burkha, is actually a counterpoint to this mentality, of what will society think if women expresses themselves, sexually or otherwise. Or if that's only the man's domain.

In case you miss that point, there is a scene in Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare where a group of men literally beat a model of a vagina.

If Lipstick Under My Burkha had four female protagonists, here, it's two. There is Dolly (Konkona Sen Sharma), a government employee in Greater Noida, who stays with her husband Amit (Aamir Bashir) and their two kids. Her cousin, Kaajal (Bhumi Pednekar) comes to stay with her, for seeking employment in the city. But she soon moves out, when Amit misbehaves with her. Something, Dolly brushes off lightly when told.

Kaajal, after taking up residence in a PG, takes up a job at a romance companion app, where she phone-chats as 'Kitty' with sex-starved men. She is adversely affected by the city around her, of the leery men and sleazy clients. As a lonely woman, she is also taken in by her friend's (Kubbra Sait) relationship with her DJ boyfriend (Karan Kundrra), and seeks her own relationship with a frequent caller, Pradeep (Vikrant Massey).

Watch the Trailer of Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare:

Dolly, who isn't a fan of her cousin's new job, has her own problems. She is raising funds on her own for her new flat in a construction that is taking too long to get complete. Her sexual life is in shambles, as her husband can't initiate sex with her, and calls her 'thanda'. She is also concerned about her younger son, who has a gender identity crisis, and wants to dress up like a girl and play with dolls. OTT Releases Of The Week: Tom Holland’s The Devil All The Time, Bhumi Pednekar’s Dolly Kitty Aur Chamkte Sitare on Netflix, Mouni Roy’s London Confidential on Zee 5 and More.

So that's about Dolly and Kitty. What about the 'sitare'? In a chat with Pradeep, Kaajal says she likes the night. It is dark, and she is scared of it, but it is in the night where she can see the stars. The stars represent the lights of hope for these two women in the world of men. In case of Kaajal, the stars have another role; her work appraisal depends on the star-rating that her customers give her, based on how sexually aroused she makes them.

For Dolly, the stars come in play when Osman (Amol Parashar), a food delivery guy requests for five stars from her after a delayed delivery, but she rates him only three and a half. But that leads to a alluring relationship between the two, forbidden for the society, but one where Dolly finally gets to see if she is really thanda, as her husband claims.

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare isn't an easy watch. Especially the portions involving Kaajal, and her struggles in the city, where a walk in the night results in catcalls and drunken men leeching at her. At one point, the movie recalls the horrific Noida bus rape incident, where Kaajal is harassed by the conductor of a private bus, who wants her to get in. Nearly all her phone chats with her customers leave you with disgust; they are a pretty far cry from the bubblegum take on the same in Ayushmann Khurrana's Dream Girl.

Similarly, in the case of Dolly, the discomfort comes through how she reacts with her son's disregard for conventional gender ideas. She beats up the little kid, she gets blamed (once again) by her husband that it is the mother's fault, and at one point, she believes that it is her fault, leading to an uncomfortable conversation with her estranged mother (Neelima Azim in an effective cameo). Shrivastava handles these two main portions with enough sensitivity, without making anything feel caricaturish.

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare is deliberately slow-paced, and some scenes do feel repetitive. The subplot between Kaajal and Pradeep moves on predictable lines, with even the surprise revelation not feeling so surprising. What's surprising is the night when both Dolly and Kitty's new worlds collide, resulting in a violent chaos of radicalism and then some unexpected departures. Also, unlike Lipstick Under My Burkha, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare ends with a glimmer of bittersweet hope, even if it is within the patriarchal tropes of where Dolly and Kitty live.

Performance-wise, both Konkona and Bhumi deliver powerhouse performances. Konkona, an ace player as always, convincingly depicts the brittleness of Dolly's nature, despite being a breadwinner, she is tied to her husband's opinions. Bhumi is sensational as the bold but fragile Kaajal/Kitty, perhaps giving the best performance of her career here. The rest of the cast - Aamir Bashir, Vikrant Massey, Kubbra Sait, Amol Parashar, Karan Kundrra - all are natural in their respective roles.

Yay!

- Konkona and Bhumi

- The Supporting Cast

- Adept Storytelling With A Strong Third Act

Nay!

- Slow Pacing

- Repetitive At Times

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare isn't about feminism, but about the right to seek happiness in your own skin, gender, identity or where you live in. In that aspect, Alankrita does a fine job of putting her point across in her third film, enabled by the bold, beautiful performances of her two leads. Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare is streaming on Netflix.

Rating:3.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 18, 2020 03:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).