Polite Society Review: Sisters, Stunts, and a Smarmy Suitor
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Pro tip: You need to watch “Polite Society” from Ria’s point of view (POV), which is exaggerated and larger than life.
Ria Khan wants to be a stuntwoman and is rooting for her older sister Lena to become a great artist. However, when Lena gets engaged to the filthy-rich Salim Shah, a successful geneticist vetted by his mother, Ria goes on a mission to stop their wedding. The feisty teenager is convinced that arranged marriages are patriarchal traps to prevent young women from reaching their full potential. And because she thinks Salim “is a smarmy wanker.”
Written and directed by Nida Manzoor, “Polite Society” stars Priya Kansara as protagonist Ria, while Ritu Arya plays her older sister Lena. They belong to a typical British-Pakistani family. The film unfolds like a fun Marvel teen superhero movie but without any super-powered protagonists. It’s aspiring stuntwoman Ria against a scheming world that wants to crush her sister Lena’s personality and reduce her to a trophy wife, even though Lena herself is content to give up her artistic dreams and marry Salim (Akshay Khanna).
One of the biggest villains in “Polite Society” is Salim’s mom, Raheela, excellently played by Nimra Bucha, who makes the character feel like a desi Disney villain. If anybody decides to make an Indian or Pakistani version of ‘101 Dalmatians’, Nimra Bucha might make a fitting Cruella. Anyway… Ria knows it’s Raheela who picked Lena for Salim among a stream of potential brides, and finds it exceedingly fishy; so she teams up with her best friends Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) to dig up dirt on Salim. The end-goal? Find a way to break up his impending marriage with Lena.
Since Ria is always practicing martial arts or getting into fights, there are plenty of action scenes in “Polite Society.” Some of the stunt scenes, especially the ones featuring Ria trying a very Kung-Fu-style air kick, are fun to watch. “I am the fury” is Ria’s favorite chant, and she embodies female rage against a patriarchal system that’s intent on converting women into ornamental home décor and baby-makers post-marriage. Except for some of the hideous outfits the stylists make her wear in the movie, Priya Kansara is pitch-perfect as the young, angry, ambitious Ria. Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri are equally engaging and hilarious as her best friends, especially in a mock-spy sequence where the trio attempts to steal Salim’s laptop. It’s a girl-power mission all the way.
While “Polite Society” starts off by establishing a close sibling bond between sisters Ria and Lena, the kind who always have each other’s backs, their relationship steadily deteriorates due to their differences of opinion over Salim. Lena is convinced Salim is the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with, but her younger sister strongly disagrees. Her family blames her ‘over-active’ imagination, but Ria is intent on ‘exposing’ Salim, even though she isn’t even sure of what — which, of course, is quite comical.
There’s a scene in the movie that some viewers might consider a goof — Ria and Lena fight like feral cats at home, with Lena smashing Ria’s head so badly that it bleeds, but as soon as the sisters are called for dinner, there are no injuries or signs of a fight on their bodies. But I don’t think that’s a goof; instead, it’s the director’s way of showing how “Polite Society” is unfolding from Ria’s POV — so everything is a lot more dramatic from her angsty teen lens. Her shenanigans are often funny, and the movie is consistently amusing and engaging for most of its 1 hour 44 minute runtime.
Despite the serious fallout with her sister, a determined Ria refuses to back off and plots an elaborate wedding day heist with her friends. The wedding celebrations are aptly grand, and in one of the most exciting scenes of “Polite Society,” viewers also get a little Bollywood song-and-dance. Nida Manzoor and the team give a fantastic ode to a Bollywood hit track, and I am not going to mention which one to keep that bit spoiler-free.
The climactic twist in the tale is over-the-top, but it’s the kind of plot surprise that wouldn’t have seemed as absurd if the movie were an actual comic-book-based superhero flick. And although I was a little disappointed with the far-fetched, sci-fi-like ending, it’s on theme with the overarching feminist themes of “Polite Society.” Regardless, the final climactic moments are gratifying, celebrating female friendships, sibling bonds, and the indomitable spirit of a teenager who would do anything to achieve her goals. Priya Kansara is a star to watch out for!
Rating: 8 out of 10. “Polite Society” is on Netflix/Zee5 and available to rent on Prime Video.
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