Movie Review ~ Secret Superstar

About the movie
Secret Superstar was released on 19 October 2017 in (India), written and directed by Advait Chandan, Starring: Zaira Wasim; Aamir Khan; Meher Vij; Raj Arjun.

Image Source

The Plot
A 15-year-old Insia Malik, who lives with her parents, younger brother, and grand aunty in Baroda is passionate about music but got only the approval and encouragement of her mother and never got off her father because he believes that the role of a woman is only to serve her husband. Her father Farookh often beats her mother Najma, and never showed much love to Insia, only to her brother Guddu. Her father is against her dream of being a singer and as such, wants her to be done with school so he can find a suitor for her.

She always plays the guitar that her mother bought for her by stealing her husband's money only when her father isn't around and On her birthday, her mother sells the only jewelry she has to buy a laptop for her.

She decides to records but her mother was afraid of her father finding out and came up with the idea of her wearing a niqab, so no one will find out her identity. She sings a song while playing the guitar and uploads the video on YouTube under the name of 'Secret Superstar' using the laptop gifted by her mother.

Her songs go viral as she began to gain the attention of many youtube followers who are interested in knowing who the secret superstar is. She also gains the attention of Shakti Kumar, a talented music director based in Mumbai who has a lot of bad personalities. Insia returns home with a poor academic grade, her father realizes that her poor academic grades are due to the guitar she was focused on so Farookh rips out all the strings from her guitar.

A few nights later, her father discovers that Najma sold a valuable necklace to buy Insia's laptop, Farookh beats his wife and tells Insia to throw out the laptop. Insia picks up the laptop and drops it from the balcony where it falls and shatters on the street.

Insia finally decides to meet Kumar with the help of her newfound friend. After fleeing from school to record a song for Kumar with the help of her friend, she persuades him to let her sing the original version of a certain party song she is unable to sing as it was a remix that was launched ten years ago.

After he accepted, and she sang the original song, she becomes more famous and was nominated for the Best Female Singer. After their first meeting on her way back, she pleads with Kumar to arrange a meeting with his ex-wife's lawyer who gave her a date to come back. She goes back to meet the lawyer who prepares a divorce paper and hands it over to Insia to give it to her mother to sign.

Insia gets home and hands over the papers to her mother but her mother angrily rejects the idea of her getting a divorce. Insia becomes a shadow of herself and decides to do her father's bidding. Her grandaunt finally reveals to her the circumstances surrounding her birth which makes her decision not to pursue her dream.

Farookh informs his family of his new job in Riyadh and how he plans to marry Insia off to his friend's son which crushes all hopes of Insia. She gives up her dream of singing and deletes her YouTube channel. He informs them that their departure is to take place on the last day of Insia's exams and the day award would be given to the best female singer of the year.

On the day of their departure, at the airport, Farookh was asked to pay an extra fee for the guitar case, unwilling to pay the extra fee for the case, he demands that Insia throw the guitar in the nearest trash can but her mother kicks against it and stands up for herself and her children.

She removes the divorce papers from her bag, signs them, and thrusts them into Farookh's hand while she marches out of the airport with her kids leaving Farookh yelling at the top of his voice for her to get back. Najma borrows a stranger's cell phone and asks Insia to contact Kumar who picks them up to attend the awards ceremony where Insia was nominated for Best Female Singer.

Insia was not allowed permission into the hall by the security but after realizing who she was, she was permitted to enter. Unfortunately, she does not win the award but Monali Thakur who happens to be the winner decides to hand the award to Insia saying Insia rightfully deserved it.

Insia on stage dedicates her award to her mother and proclaims her the true 'Secret Superstar' saying her mother even before her birth supported and fought for her.

Image Source

Lessons
The film is based on feminism, gender equality, and domestic violence.
And also points hand to one not giving up on his or her dreams no matter the challenges.
It alhimselftalks about one standing up for his or herself in situations that demand such acts.

My Thought

The movie is one of the best movies I have watched so far. It could make you smile, laugh, the bond between daughter and mother puts so much smile on my face, and the scene where the two kids were having fun with their mother. It could also make you cry, d rage most especially in the scenes where Faroukh was beating his wife.