Aditya Kripalani on Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal: Feminism with difference

A still from the film

Director Aditya Kripalani understands that his films, owing to their unconventional subjects, may never be viewed as commercial outings. Couple that with the censorship trouble that his 2017 release Tikli and Laxmi Bomb ran into, and he is only too happy to release his films as direct-to-net offerings. Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal (2019) earned rave reviews when it dropped on Netflix last year. "The good thing about Netflix is that they respect the filmmaker's vision completely. Either they take it or they pass, but they never try to maul the film. I wanted to give the film a Thelma and Louise [1991] feel, but eventually, it was about the different kinds of feminism," he explains.

Revolving around four women who abduct an eve-teaser to make him understand the humiliation that they go through when harassed, Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal shines a spotlight on gender inequality. However, Kripalani throws a curveball when he says that the movie's core idea lies in the blockbuster Sholay (1975). "The original ending of Sholay had Jai killing Gabbar Singh, and then breaking down because revenge isn't the most pleasant emotion. I remember reading about it in film school and that's what I built on. Though the women in my film take drastic measures, they feel hollow after having committed something heinous. This film is as much about toxic masculinity as it is about feminism."

Aditya Kripalani

Cast your vote for the Hitlist Web Awards

Aditya Kripalani's Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal (Netflix) has been nominated in the Best Web Film category. The other nominees are:

. Udai Singh Pawar's Upstarts (Netflix)
. Bugs Bhargava's Barot House (Zee5)
. Svati Chakravarty Bhatkal's Rubaru Roshni (Hotstar)
. Faruk Kabir's Ab Normal 377 (Zee5)

There are 14 categories that the public can vote in. Log on to www.hitlistwebawards.com to cast your vote.

You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c/d as on the website) to 57575.

Voting lines close on March 8.

More about Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal

. While Tikli and Laxmi Bomb is based on Kripalani's book of the same name, this film is an original screenplay

. Rajasthan boy Vinay Sharma used personal experiences to build the misogynistic character

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