Laapataa Ladies Plot Summary
Laapataa Ladies aka Lost Ladies is a hilarious comedy helmed by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao and stars former child stars Nitanshi Goel and Sparsh Shrivastava along with Pratibha Ranta, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan. After its initial release last year, it finally arrived on Netflix in April 2024.
Set in 2001 India, it picks up the theme of arranged marriage and expectations from a traditional Indian bride. Hailing from Murti, Deepak marries Phool and is on his way home with her. He gets into an extremely crowded train which is filled with other similarly dressed newlyweds.
As a custom, all brides have a red veil through which they can only see the ground. The constant bustle and the fact that it is night have the sleep-deprived Deepak accidentally grabbing for the wrong bride, Jaya and heading home. However, she lies about her identity.
Meanwhile, Phool is left with Jaya’s husband, Pradeep and they get down at Pateela. But on learning that she is not Jaya, he abandons her. And so begins Phool’s misadventures at the Pateela station as she tries to make her way back to Deepak who is looking for her as well.
Is Jaya the bandit bride?
From the beginning of Laapataa Ladies, there’s news that there is a bandit bride on the loose. She marries rich families and then runs off with the in-laws’ jewellery. It is a rampant case and is reported in all the newspapers. When Jaya realises that she has followed the wrong man home, Deepak, she tells his family that her name is Pushpa.
Jaya continues to lie about her husband’s name and disappears for hours at end. When the police ask to meet with her, she refuses to have her photo taken, gives the wrong telephone number and even covers up her tattoo so she isn’t identified. When Murti’s inspector, Manohar learns of the situation, he believes that she is the infamous bandit bride.
After Manohar gets the police report from Jaya’s husband, Pradeep, he is even more suspicious of her and follows her around. Once he gets Jaya’s photo from Pradeep, he has her arrested. However, it is soon revealed that she is not the bandit bride.
Why does Jaya lie about her name?
Turns out Jaya is not the bandit bride but she did want to run off to Dehradun where she wants to study farming. She had topped the exam in her village but her mother forced her to get married. On top of that, Jaya’s husband, Pradeep is a violent and abusive man who has been rumoured to have burnt his first wife.
Once Jaya realises that she is lost, she decides to take advantage of it by secretly applying for the course, paying the tuition fees and booking a bus to Dehradun. With Manohar putting out a report on her situation, she lies about her name so that Pradeep is not able to find her.
How is Phool able to find Deepak?
Jaya is about to leave for Dehradun when she sees that Deepak is miserable and genuinely misses Phool. She decides to help him by doing what none of them had thought of. Deepak’s sister-in-law, Poonam can draw well but they don’t think it is a worthwhile skill. However, since she has seen Phool at the wedding, Jaya tells her to do a sketch of Phool.
Jaya then tells Deepak’s friend, Gunjan who is a press owner to make copies and share the flyers with everyone. One of the flyers reaches Pateela and soon Phool. Phool and her gang try to call the number on the flyer – Jaya’s mobile number but unfortunately, the phone is in Manohar’s custody at that time after he arrests her.
However, the flyer also mentions that Deepak is from Murti and Phool decides to take the train alone. Her gang – Chhotu and Manju encourage her and she boards the train. At the same time, Manohar finally checks the phone and Pateela’s station master reveals that Phool is indeed at their station.
On hearing this, Deepak rushes to board a train only to learn that there isn’t one till night. He almost leaves to take a bus to Pateela but turns out Phool has already arrived at Murti. She calls out for him, he spots her and they have a tearful reunion.
Is Jaya forced to go with her husband, Pradeep?
In Pateela, Pradeep reports Jaya missing. The Pateela inspector starts checking in at every station which is how Manohar is updated. After the chase, once he arrests her, he informs Pradeep who arrives with a stack of money and bribes Manohar to quietly shut the case. Manohar, who likes having all his cases neatly closed, accepts it, gives Jaya’s jewellery to Pradeep and hands her to him.
Once Pradeep gets his hands on her, he berates her, slaps her and claims her jewellery is his dowry now. But just before he can leave with her, Manohar stops him. Now that Jaya’s case has been closed, he is absolved of his duty to Pradeep. With Jaya being an adult, Manohar points out that she can refuse to go with him.
On top of that, Pradeep can easily be charged with assault, dowry harassment and even for bribing a cop. Pradeep tries to threaten Manohar but that is just another charge added to his name. Furious, he stalks off while Jaya is grateful to Manohar. He returns her jewellery to her and in exchange, she gives him her in-law’s jewellery out of gratitude.
Meanwhile, Deepak’s family is indebted to her for helping with Phool and they have a sweet farewell as they see her off. She heads to Dehradun for college while Phool and Deepak head home.