Polite Society: Girls literally fight patriarchy as Bollywood meets kung fu in the UK

In Nida Manzoor's 'Polite Society', a brown household meets kung fu, patriarchy, annoying desi aunties, Bollywood, science fiction, and a lot of drama.

"What is it with men? They just seem to be destroying everything. Everything in the universe seems to be bending to them. It's time it bends to someone else," goes a dialogue in the film. Perhaps this is what Nida Manzoor aimed for in Polite Society where she seems determined to bend the rules of genres and patriarchy. Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) is a rebellious British-Pakistani teenager who aims to become a stuntwoman like Eunice Huthart. Ria's elder sister Lena (Ritu Arya), unconfident about her artistic skills, drops out of art school. At the villainous Raheela's (Nimra Bucha) Eid soiree, Lena meets geneticist and mumma's boy Salim (Akshay Khanna) and soon decides to marry him. Unwilling to let Lena's artistic dreams die, Ria undertakes a mission to save her elder sister from Raheela's evil clutches.

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The quirkiest part of the film is obviously Ria doing kung fu wearing salwar kameez. She is, without a doubt, the show's star as the troubled, adamant, ambitious, and rebellious teenager. She and Arya make for a very adorable sister duo. Arya has played the insecure, confused, yet strong Lena effortlessly. Bucha also wins as she makes you really dislike Raheela, particularly with her scary laugh. Raheela's character especially helps the film be as fictitious as it wants. The film lures you in with a little fantasy and gradually keeps adding more until the fantasy looks convincingly real. This is how Politely Society does an effective job of representing South Asian women. The humor is also exhilarating, mostly because of how it has been delivered, with Ella Bruccoleri as Ria's friend Alba, being the funniest of all.

The story seems straightforward- a rebellious but unlucky protagonist from a crazy and conservative South Asian family is hell-bent on proving herself to her bullies, teacher, parents, and herself while saving her sister with her girl gang Alba and Clara (Seraphina Beh). However, Manzoor has dressed the story quirkily and exotically, making a brown household meet kung fu, patriarchy, annoying desi aunties, Bollywood, science fiction, and a lot of drama. The film is very commercially Bollywood-like especially because the climax makes you want to clap and hoot. It can give you a predictable outcome and yet entertain you thoroughly. As a rarity, we see women in colourful salwar kameez doing stunts, young women smashing each other's heads on glass frames, and ninja beauticians using wax to torture the protagonist. Girls are literally fighting patriarchy while Mohammed Rafi's 'Gulaabi Aankhein' plays in the background.

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However, Ria is not fighting only Salim and Raheela but her own family too. Perhaps what makes Polite Society appealing to me even as an Indian woman is how I could relate to a British-Pakistani teenager due to the injustice faced by our shared gender. Ria's ambition of becoming a stuntwoman is always laughed at. Even though she constantly warns that Salim and Raheela are sinister, nobody believes her. Elders are always condescending and never take her seriously. The only ones who believe in her ambition are Lena, Alba, and Clara. Lena's misery is relatable too. Because Lena doesn't believe in herself, she agrees to settle down. Her mother boasts, "I'm not a villain. I let her go to art school. I did more than other mothers." But is it really freedom when you allow someone to do something?

Patriarchy constantly belittles women because it benefits every time women listen to it, lose confidence, and step down. Ria understands this which is why she strives so hard to prove herself. But she requires her elder sister's support after all sisters often depend on each other to break free in life. "I disappoint my parents. That's what I do," says Lena. Unfortunately, the onus often lies on elder sisters to revolt for freedom first, and thus disappoint parents. If the elder sister gives up, the younger one learns to give up too. Both sisters require each other's support. Lena perfectly describes this sisterly co-dependence when she tells Ria, "You ruined my day, but you saved my life." After all, fighting for a free life is not a one-day job for women, it is a life-long drudgery.

Now, compare this with the rosy and almost Oedipal bond between Salim and Raheela. Unlike Ria, Salim is constantly believed and is the apple of his mother's eye. Nobody doubts his endeavors. "Behind every successful man is a very tired mother," Raheela says aptly. In most conservative families, sacrifice defines women, especially mothers. "Mum's sacrificed a lot for me. So I try to keep her happy when I can," says Salim. However, having sacrificed their youth, older women believe that the daughter-in-law has to sacrifice her life for the family too. Since the mother-in-law served her family for years, now it is the daughter-in-law's turn to serve her. Thus, the generational trauma keeps flowing on. 

Bringing this to light, Polite Society seemingly intends to give respite to daughters-in-law and daughters. It shows how women are pushed to prove themselves daily and it also promotes that women can be whoever they want. This also means that women can be unsure about what they want and they deserve liberation even if they are disarrayed in life. Angry women, messed up women, and all women deserve to just be.

Polite Society is currently streaming in theatres.