Tapassi Movie Review: A stark descent into pain, bogged down by its objectifying gaze

Something is unsettling about Tapassi, and it's not just the dark themes.

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Directed by Spencer Mathew, this intense, female-centric drama attempts to peel back the layers of glamour in the modelling industry, exposing the disturbing truths that lie beneath. The film follows a young girl with aspirations of becoming a model and actor. And while it succeeds in revealing the grime beneath the glitter, it falters in making us truly connect with its titular character.

The story begins with Tapassi (Ammayra Goswami) confessing her past to Professor Ravish Vaidyanathan (Ravichandran), writing and narrating her life in retrospect. She enters the modelling world with dreams as grand as her determination, but her journey quickly spirals into a brutal descent. Alcohol, drugs, transactional sex, and emotional numbness take over. The film never glamorises her life; if anything, it strips it of allure. Yet, in doing so, it risks objectifying her pain rather than humanising it. This is where Tapassi stumbles most. Though it centres on a woman losing her agency, it often reduces her to an object, viewed primarily through the lens of men who use, manipulate, or later regret hurting her. She drinks, smokes, and sleeps with men, sometimes by choice, often not; however, the film rarely pauses to explore her inner life. Why does she keep falling into the same traps? What drives her, beyond the desire for fame? These questions are repeatedly raised but never thoroughly explored.