A high-on-style musical yarn

Qala

Hindi (Netflix)

Director: Anvita Dutt

Cast: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan

Rating: 3/5

Qala is a singer. But for the most part, she is a bundle of nerves. Blame it on her inheritance, the albatross around her neck.

Wedged between her father's legacy and her mother's dream, Qala is choked by the standards set by her genes.

As a child, the first instruction that her illustrious mother drilled into her head was that there should be a 'Pandit' prefixed with her name. Else, a woman singer will just be a 'Bai' in the male-dominated industry.

Set in pre-independent India — in the Calcutta of the 40s to be precise — 'Qala' is more about the fraught mother-daughter relationship than their music. The daughter yearns for her mother's validation. The mother shreds her confidence.

It's a difficult relationship. Difficult to understand, too.

With very little communicated in spoken words, the movie finds its expressions in stunning visuals. The lush cinematography makes the most of Himachal's snow — a recurring theme — as Qala gets buried under the weight of her mother's expectations.

Tripti Dimri is impactful as the playback singer mired in self-doubt even at the pinnacle of her career. She brings an aesthetic melancholy to her helplessness — partly the result of the constant conflict with her hard-to-please mother (Swastika Mukherjee, holding a whole lot of sway).

The story relies heavily on flashbacks to explain the mental state of its protagonist. We learn that Qala's wounds are not inflicted by her mother alone. At her debut performance, she is upstaged by a poor, gifted artiste (Irrfan Khan's son Babil Khan, living up to the hype). Qala's mother takes the boy under her wing. A male rival is born, and Qala quivers with jealousy. Her inner demons are unleashed.

After her feminist supernatural thriller 'Bulbbul', Anvita Dutt weaves another high-on-style yarn. Less on substance? That's just a quibble. The compelling performances lift this tale of ill-fated singers.