Kajol in Do Patti

Do Patti review, a Hindi language drama from India

Do Patti (which translates as “Two Cards”) is an Indian film about domestic violence. It took a heavy handed, ineffective approach to the topic, which is a serious problem in India’s patriarchal society.

Do Patti does have it’s moments. Kriti Sanon does a convincing job as the twin sisters Saumya and Shailee. But I found the way the story was plotted to be a problem. Several things bothered me.

The poster for Do Patti features the four lead characters.

The poster says, “A Truth Hidden in Every Lie.” The movie uses domestic violence as its starting point, but the story is told through a series of lies that may or may not result in justice in the end.

It begins with the police woman Vidya Jyothi “VJ” Kanwar (Kajol) being summoned to the home of Dhruv (Shaheer Sheikh) and his wife Saumya (Kriti Sanon) by a report of domestic violence. Saumya denies any problems and VJ has no choice but to leave. The woman who answers the door at the home, Maaji (Tanvi Azmi), seems to have been the one who made the call.

Kriti Sanon played two very different twins

Then we flash back to the beginning of the relationship between Dhruv and Saumya. She was shy and not very adventurous. When Dhruv met her twin sister Shailee (also Kriti Sanon) he was attracted by her bold and challenging ways. Yet he ended up marrying Saumya.

And abusing her physically.

Dhruv had a business letting people hang glide. He took Saumya for a ride on their first date, even though she was terrified. His failures at business increased his abuse of his wife.

Shaheer Sheikh and Kriti Sanon in Do Patti
Afraid of hang gliding? No worries, I’ve got you.

Back in the present, Saumya is so badly hurt she is hospitalized. When VJ talks to Maaji she hears one story. When she talks to Saumya she hears something different. Dhruv tells yet a different story and Shailee has her own version. All these people describe domestic violence very graphically (more graphically shown than it needed to be).

VJ thinks she knows what happened and takes Dhruv to trial. VJ is both a lawyer and a police woman.

VJ was manipulated by the various storytellers in the case, and the audience is misled along with her. Using such an important issue as domestic violence as a plot trick made me dislike everything that had been shown before and left an unpleasant feel to the entire movie.

I’m all in favor of Netflix bringing Hindi language films to American TV. I’ve reviewed several that were very good. This is not one of the good ones.

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