Feminism isn’t about bashing men; it’s about equality and empowering women to embrace their true selves. Tahira Kashyap drives this point home in her debut directorial film, ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’, now streaming on Prime Video. But, it’s not a groundbreaking story. It is a tale of ordinary women discovering themselves amidst the struggle against social norms and tired stereotypes, a narrative which has become quite common in Hindi cinema; the most recent being Kiran Rao’s brilliantly narrated and performed, ‘Laapataa Ladies’.

But, Tahira falls just short of achieving the benchmark of being the best as her film stumbles often, before getting back on track, though with relative ease.

Just as the name suggests, ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’ is about five women, who share a common last name. They are free-thinking women, with a voice of their own. Their only roadblock — people who they call their own.

The working woman, Jyoti Sharma (Sakshi Tanwar), has a daughter (Vanshika Taparia) who despises her for prioritising her career over herself. Homemaker Kiran Sharma (Divya Dutta), a native of Patiala, caught up in the bustling life of Mumbai, is best at managing the home, but those who live in it can barely spare a minute for her. Cricket enthusiast Tanvi Sharma (Saiyami Kher) knows how to give a tough time to her opponents with her bat, but gets stumped when her boyfriend tries to make her more “girl-like”.

The message of ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’ is an important one: Women are not superhumans. They can’t necessarily be a hands-on mother while being a top professional or, if they are not employed, it doesn’t mean they are ‘bekaar‘ and they can step away from conventional avatars to create a place for themselves.

Great! Good message. But a good message goes nowhere without a good film. Coming in, ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’ offers interesting perspectives and, most importantly, one can relate to the characters and their lives. There’s the quibbling mother and a daughter, there’s an unappreciated member of the household and another whose efforts are ridiculed when they don’t sit in with the societal narrative. But to bring the audience forward and in sharing their stories, Kashyap takes a while.

There’s a potentially heartwarming, feel-good movie in here somewhere. There are moments (one where the school-going Gurveen confides in her best friend Swati about her identity is my favourite) which leave you with a smile. But it lumbers along, wasting its rich material and great performers who don’t get enough room to shine, and the movie suffers as a result. Over its nearly two-hour runtime, it takes some effort to sit through.

And when you do, while keeping aside the complaints, what you appreciate about ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’ is the absence of demonising a partner to highlight the imbalance in gender norms. The husband or boyfriend are not the villains, rather they’re appreciative of the roles played by their wives and girlfriends.

In this ensemble cast, child actor Vanshika Taparia, Sakshi Tanwar’s daughter in the film, gives perfect expression to the crippling insecurity of teenage girls about their appearance. Her portrayal of Swati, a girl who believes she is worthy of attention and love only if she looks ‘perfect,’ overshadows a seasoned actor like Tanwar.

Divya Dutta, known for her consistent comic performances, delivers many of the film’s best lines and brings depth to her performance, even in underwritten scenes. Saiyami Kher is missable. Sharib Hashmi, Parvin Dabas, and Ravjeet Singh ably carry equal weight in the plot.

Even though sometimes it feels like the film is nailing the common feelings of guilt in mothers and the teenage obsession of girls with their bodies, it just doesn’t go anywhere. ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’ could have used better dialogues and a bit more pace to secure a place in your heart.

2.5 out of 5 stars for ‘Sharmajee Ki Beti’.