Indoo ki Jawani: Review

It was in 1974 that D.K Baruah proclaimed, "India is Indira. Indira is India". Almost 50 years later the film Indoo ki Jawani (2020) works on almost similar premises. While registering on a dating app Indoo's friend misspells her name and hence she is addressed as India throughout the film by her date. Though the film is a romantic comedy the political underpinnings of this film cannot be negated. Indira (Kiara Advani) is an overt nationalist and does not shy away from displaying her allegiance towards the country. It is well established that she is a virgin and is contrasted with her friend, Sonal (Mallika Dua) who acts as a foil and she is depicted as someone with a colorful taste and as the one who has a voracious appetite for sex. Indira's body also becomes a site of her being "guarded" from any foreign invasion even though she has been greedily stared at by men of all age groups.  She perhaps also represents India as a country that has been under attack by neighboring countries like China and Pakistan. At one instance, when she is warned by her neighbors of the Pakistani terrorist lurking in the town she, in her nationalist fervor,  claims to be capable enough to tackle three Pakistani terrorists (an obvious indication to the three old, lecherous men chasing her). Men have constantly followed her in the garb of "protecting" her from any external threat but affirms that she has not allowed any man to "establish his territory"-ascertaining that her body is a sacred space.  

So, how does the maxim "India is Indira. Indira is India" function in the film? Interestingly, the man whom she invites over for a date turns out to be a Pakistani. This realization triggers her nationalistic instinct and she decides to inform the police to get him arrested. She metaphorically transforms into our ex-Prime Minister who tried to protect the country from terrorist invasion which led to the declaration of the Emergency. She defends the honour of the country when her date tries to humiliate India. 

However, the real threat turns out to be someone else who is practically portrayed as "Stateless". He has no country, no religion; his only motive is to cause destruction. Interestingly, social media is also a medium that is the cause of a lot of anxiety within the film. It is through the use of apps such as "Dinder" and "Gomato" that Indira falls prey to these foreign agents. However, the Pakistani trying to save Indira (India) from the stateless enemy is a trope that many contemporary films have evaded post the 2014 elections and the Balakot attacks in particular. The film seems to offer a solution that if the war between the two countries has to be curbed the intrusion of this third-person needs to stop. Metaphorically this third-person is perhaps those power-hungry politicians who have kept the two countries at bay for their own political motives. The ultimate discernment for Indoo, in particular, is that no country is inherently good or bad but it is the people that make it so. But even in the end the union of Indoo and Samar (Aditya Seal) is restrained as she vehemently tries to push him off of her home. 

Perhaps, the struggle for a peaceful union has a long way too as the movie suggests!