Shraddha Kapoor continues to captivate the masses with her blockbuster films, and now she appears set to tackle one of the biggest risks of her career. The teaser for Eetha, directed by Laxman Utekar, has just dropped and leaves an unexpected impact despite being only just over a minute long. More than just a teaser, it feels like a glimpse into a woman’s life who has been driven by an overwhelming passion for performing, even more than by the pain she has faced.
The teaser opens backstage with a very tense atmosphere while capturing Vithabai Narayangaonkar’s, the real-life Lavani and Tamasha performer, story before she goes on stage. Shraddha is shown in full Maharashtrian traditional garb and heavily pregnant, awaiting her baby’s arrival. There’s a chaotic atmosphere going on all around her, but her character’s determination to perform is all that is visible. The distress of the pain of labor happening away from the action of the stage comes through as the teaser edits back and forth between the two contrasting settings.
The most powerful moment of the teaser is when Vithabai gives birth backstage and walks out of that backstage environment to give a performance on stage. While the action is intended to be shocking, Vithabai’s strength demonstrates precisely why the folk legend became so well-respected in her career. There are few or no words spoken that take away from the central point of the teaser; instead, it quickly establishes that the show must go on.
Although many things stand out in Eetha, the biggest takeaway is Shraddha Kapoor; she is unrecognizable at times not because of massive amounts of prosthetics, but rather because of the incredible confidence with which she plays her character. She uses dictation, facial expressions, body movement, and stage presence that makes it clear that this is much more than simply another performance in a biopic. There is an intensity behind her eyes that conveys years of hardship, sacrifice, and pride.
Visually, the entire film has an earthy richness; the Lavani dance sequences have bold colours and high energy to them, while the sequences that take place backstage feel more RAW.
