Woman Uninterrupted:
Films and shows like Ally McBeal, Bridget Jones Diary and Fleabag make the single woman a pathetic, ridiculous creature desperate for male attention. Single Salma, directed by Nachiket Samant, gives its protagonist a dignity that an unmarried woman in a north Indian town would not normally be accorded.
Lucknow-based Salma (Huma Qureshi) is a 33-year-old career woman, in a government job, whose earnings allow her living-in-nawabi-nostalgia father (Kanwaljeet Singh) to keep his heavily mortgaged mansion; she has got her younger sisters married, and is paying for her brother’s education. Unlike other similar characters in Hindi cinema in the past, she does not carry an air of tragedy around her, even as marital prospects dim. An ugly twice-married man thinks he is doing her a favour by considering her. Salma is just seen weeping in rage just once, when she finally catches the creep who has been leaving lewd messages on her car’s windshield.
Then, the matchmaker brings Sikander (Shreyas Talpade), an under-educated clothing shop owner, who is so dazzled by her beauty, that he expects to be rejected. She is impressed by his simplicity and honesty and they get engaged. Then, her office sends her, along with a small team, to London, on a two-month assignment—they are to learn what would turn Lucknow into a smart city.
Sikander does not object to her leaving—in fact, comes to see her off with a band—willing to put off the wedding till her return. In London, the head of the project they are working on is Meet (Sunny Singh), who lives with the freedom of choice that Salma cannot imagine. The others in her team are culture-shocked, but over the weeks she spends in London, not only Salma’s wardrobe, but her mindset changes. She is no longer the timid, dutiful woman who had arrived in London. On Meet’s encouragement, she chugs drinks, and dares to wear a swimming costume on the beach. Zoya (Milia) shows her an independent, non-binary way of life.Then there’s an older colleague (Navni Parihar), who confesses to a minor youthful misdemeanor that she still remembers after years of the conformity expected of women. There is also the chirpy best friend, Ratna (Nidhi Singh) in Lucknow, who has settled into boring domesticity, but exhorts Salma to live it up.
The swimsuit causes more trouble than a brief dip in the sea was worth, but Salma is quite prepared for the storm. Unfortunately, the promo reveals that both men land up at her doorsteps with baraats, and Salma has to choose. It is what she decides that gives the film its gold-standard worth.
The London bits are long-drawn, and have unnecessary bits like the meeting with Meet’s grandparents, but for most part Single Salma, is enjoyable, Mudassar Aziz’s is sparkling (the story is by Amina Khan and screenplay by Ravi Kumar) and the actors are in fine form. Huma Qureshi fits the role perfectly, and does not allow Salma even an iota of self-pity or ditziness. Shreyas Talpade is a delight as the almost woke singleton. Sunny Singh as the flirty Londoner, and Nidhi Singh as the wisdom-imparting friend are well cast.
Huma Qureshi is one of the producers of the film along with her actor brother Saquib Saleem. It’s good to see her help create a film which is as charming as it is empowering, without taking on the stridency that so many women-oriented films invariably adopt.
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)