Nitishashtra: Taapsee Pannu's Debut Short Film shouldn't be missed.

Director: Kapil Verma

Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Arora

Rating: 3/5

In one of her recent interviews, Taapsee Pannu had stated that she had been so profoundly stereotyped as an "action-heroine" that no one offers her romantic or comical roles anymore. But isn't that's pretty much a Bollywood thing, where visibility is so important that most actors don't mind getting typecast. And a bunch of them, who manage to survive the storm spend the later half of their careers trying to shed the image they've wonderfully crafted for years on screen.

In case of Tapsee, if we keep aside a few forgettable roles she's played which may be either due to lack of visibility or lack of guidance in the industry (N-E-P-O-T-I-S-M) most of her roles have been a welcome change from the absolute abundance of girl-next-door characters in Bollywood films.

Nitishashtra is no different. Playing it safe in her first short film outing, she sticks to her "angry young woman" image, a vigilante of sorts in her character of a self-defence trainer for women. The movie begins with an out and out action sequence where Tapsee is seen taking on a young man almost her age. On closer examination of the first scene you'll realise that this ain't an ordinary self defence action but there is a rage, an overflow of emotions which come along with her kicks and punches. The movie then goes into flashback as the narrative begins to unfold.

Although there is enough meat in Tapsee's character but she doesn't bring anything new to the table. Her role falls more in the bracket of a Naam Shabana meets Pink genre and she carries it effortlessly. 

However, a movie conspicuously empowering women through self defence classes involves unmistakable cliched references to gender bias as a part of dining table conversations, something which could have been dealt with more skilfully as a part of the script. 

The narrative although engaging and compelling, becomes extremely predictable in the last few minutes of the film. However, the director and the acting performances need to be applauded. At a time  #IamNotAChickFlick has become the defining point of feminism in Bollywood, this movie is a fiercely realistic take on woman empowerment. 

Drawing from the title which doesn't bear any reference of violence or physical action but signifies ethics and principles ,watch this 20 minute film for a fresh interpretation of the Bhagwad Geeta.