Saand Ki Aankh

The few instances of detail and nuance are highlights here, such as the story of Prakashi’s sewing machine, how it came to her, its uses and emotional ‘demise’; Chandro and Prakashi’s ritual of tying knots in their head scarves to celebrate their secret victories. However, the film may have benefited from a more authentic female gaze.

This feels like a waste of rich narrative possibilities, as mechanically feelgood as those two dozen Britflicks that have cast Dames Dench, Smith et al as old dears who shoot from the lip.

There is a simple reason for why this grannies-with-guns saga fires blanks: the elderly women are played by Taapsee Pannu, aged 32, and Bhumi Pednekar, aged 30.

Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar have a winner on their hands in this inspiring story about two women who take on patriarchy.

Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar's body language is wrong. Their faces are made old by latex, but their hands and necks are young. Crucially, at no point do they make us suspend disbelief.

The film drives home the point of women empowerment, celebrates the bonhomie among women wholeheartedly, and attempts at every point to hit the bull's eye.