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’.

Twenty-six years after the death of Princess Diana, her spirit — and style — are as influential as ever.

That much was proved true Thursday at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, where Julien’s Auctions sold more than 50 of the philanthropist’s personal items, ranging from glittering gowns and heels to handwritten notes discussing her young children. It was the largest collection of the princess’ clothing for sale since an auction for charity she held herself at Christie’s in 1997. Auction items fetched more than $1.5 million.

The collection sold Thursday, “Princess Diana’s Elegance & A Royal Collection,” was so extravagant that it went on its own royal world tour, making stops in Hong Kong, New York and Ireland before the items found new owners in Beverly Hills.

“The Princess Diana exhibition and auction are not only a celebration of her enduring legacy but also a testament to the power of fashion, art, and personal objects to evoke emotions, spark memories, and connect people across generations,” Julien’s wrote on its website. A portion of the proceeds benefited Muscular Dystrophy U.K., a charity Diana was involved with.

The highlights were undoubtedly the gowns — in particular, a 1987 Victor Edelstein magenta silk and lace evening dress that sold for a jaw-dropping $910,000, making it the second most-expensive piece of the princess’ wardrobe ever sold. Diana wore the gown twice in 1987, first on Jan. 25 in London and then Nov. 6 in Hamburg, Germany.

The second showstopper was a Murray Arbeid gown made of cascading blue tulle accented by glittering stars. It was reportedly one of Diana’s favorites, and she wore it repeatedly — including at the world premiere of “The Phantom of the Opera” in London on Oct. 9, 1986, a dinner for King Constantine of Greece on July 6, 1986, and later a ballet on Dec. 17, 1987. The dress was valued at $200,000 to $400,000, but bids soared to $780,000.

Also available were several of Diana’s personal notes, cards, photographs and letters, one of which discussed her being pregnant with Prince Harry. The three-page letter sold for the highest amount in the category, going for more than $44,000.

The public’s enduring obsession with the princess has been revived in full force in recent years, with popular shows such as Netflix’s “The Crown” and the film “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart, exploring Diana’s upbringing, chaotic marriage to now-King Charles III, prolific philanthropic work and tragic death at 36.

As the current royal family struggles through controversies — King Charles’ “serial killer” portrait, Princess Kate’s bungled announcement that she was stepping away from royal duties for cancer treatment, and revelations surrounding Prince Andrew’s unsavory acquaintances — love for Lady Di seems to endure.

Throughout A Family Affair, daughter Zara (Joey King) and mom Brooke (Nicole Kidman) argue over just what kind of a man Chris Cole (Zac Efron) is. To Zara, he’s a self-absorbed movie star boss who oscillates between unreasonable demands and threats of firing. For Brooke, he’s an attentive lover, the first man to reawaken her to the possibility of romance since the death of Zara’s father, Charlie.

Neither of them are exactly wrong — Chris, like anyone, contains multitudes. Where the Richard LaGravenese-directed A Family Affair struggles, however, is in convincing us he might be both at once. Part showbiz send-up and part earnest romantic drama, the film lurches awkwardly between its two modes without settling on a single cohesive tone. Fortunately, both halves are also blessed with the same quality that allows Chris to embody both Zara’s idea of him and Brooke’s: enough charm to make you come away smiling, even as you shake your head at its missteps.

The first Chris we meet is the obnoxious one. Onscreen, he’s the Marvel-style hero of a terrible-sounding franchise called Icarus Rush; offscreen, he’s a vain man-child pitching hissy fits at Zara. He calls her at odd hours to send her looking for protein powder, and makes her assemble gift baskets for his dogs with her own money. He runs through girlfriends like tissues, then sends her to pick up his stuff from their houses. He strings her along with the promise of an assistant producer credit, but continually insists she’s not “ready” to do much more than pick up his dry cleaning. None of these gags are especially fresh — Chris is simply every spoiled Hollywood stereotype rolled into one. But screenwriter Carrie Solomon comes at them with the wry fondness of an insider who knows just how ridiculous her industry can be.

They’re further elevated by Efron, who was last seen in the weepie The Iron Claw but reminds us here that he’s an even better comic talent than a dramatic one. His crackerjack timing turns decent jokes into laugh-out-loud hilarious ones, and his puppyish sweetness keeps Chris endearing at his worst. His (platonic) dynamic with King positively crackles with both exasperation and begrudging affection. At one point, Chris scoffs that it’s “derogatory” for her to call him a celebrity because he’s a movie star, damnit. The moment plays as a joke, but it also contains a kernel of truth. Like The Fall Guy, A Family Affair serves as a testament to the power of movie-star charisma while simultaneously poking fun at it.

All this Hollywood satire is merely set-up for the real plot of A Family Affair, which kicks in once Chris invites himself over to the home Zara shares with her mother. While waiting for her to show, he and Brooke get to talking over tequila shots. The next thing either of them know, Brooke is ripping open the very t-shirt that Chris, only the day before, had screamed at Zara for not treating more gently.

At first, the hook-up is played for laughs. Chris remains his ditzy self, wooing Brooke from lines with his own movies. (“This time I mean it,” he insists when she teasingly calls him out on it.) Zara is so startled to find her mother in bed with her employer that she goes full slapstick, choking on a grape and knocking herself unconscious. Fumbling to explain, Brooke accidentally invokes the same excuse Zara gave her for getting a forbidden eyebrow piercing as a teen: “It made sense at the time when the guy was putting it in.”

But A Family Affair takes on a more sincere and sentimental tone as the hook-up evolves into something deeper. Kidman and Efron share a decently sweet chemistry that’s nothing like the tawdry dynamic they flaunted in The Paperboy. Chris gets vulnerable about his childhood tragedies and the loneliness of fame. She confesses it’s been years since she felt desired, and allows herself the luxury of “going a little crazy” for the first time since she can remember. Although there are moments when the film goes big with expensive dinners and private studio tours and an adorably quirky third-act gesture, the relationship is generally pitched as a slow-burn love affair, not an impassioned fling.

In fact, A Family Affair barely leans into the fairy tale of dating a rich and sexy A-lister. In contrast to The Idea of You, with which it shares a superficially similar premise, the film is largely unconcerned with the specific perks or challenges of dating while famous. Brooke is unfamiliar with Chris’ career, and she does not need him to whisk her away on vacations or bring her to fancy galas; she’s done well enough already to have her own cliffside mansion and closet full of designer dresses. Though Chris can’t so much as go for a grocery run without getting swarmed, the couple do not discuss what it might mean to go public with their relationship — and they never have to, since it somehow never happens. The biggest threat to their connection is Zara’s disapproval, not the gap in age and social standing.

The fantasies that the movie does tap into are more mundane, and almost more poignant for it. One is of being a female writer whose talent attracts, rather than intimidates, an eligible suitor. Brooke recounts how fellow writer Charlie seemed to resent her success; Chris, on the other hand, goes out of his way to find her writing, and even memorizes her best bits by heart. The other is of being a mother whose child finally appreciates her sacrifices. All three lead characters could be accused of making short-sighted or self-serving choices. But it’s Brooke the movie portrays as a saint who’s earned whatever happiness she can get, and Zara who’s made to apologize for being selfish.

Parallels are drawn between Brooke lovingly tending to Zara’s every need through a difficult childhood and Zara catering to Chris’ now. I’d point out that those situations are not remotely the same, and in fact have no business being in the same conversation — just as A Family Affair‘s Hollywood material and its drama feel at times like they’ve come from two completely different films. But the lines are delivered with such heartfelt tenderness that for a moment, you might be moved in spite of yourself.