Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastava became household names after starring in Kiran Rao’s critically acclaimed and immensely popular film Laapataa Ladies, which released in theatres earlier this year and is now streaming on Netflix. After the co-stars were pictured together multiple times, there were rumours that they are dating. During a recent Ask Me Anything session on Instagram, the two were asked if they are dating. To this, Pratibha replied, “No, of course not.” Sparsh added to that, “Yaar, ek ladka aur ladki sirf dost bhi ho sakte hain (A guy and a girl can just be friends).”
In a recent video posted by Netflix India, the duo can be seen dancing to the track Saiyaan Hatto Jaao from Heeramandi. The text on the video reads, “Kuchh nahi bhai bas Phool ko dhundne jaa rahe hain” (referring to the character from their film who is lost during a train journey). The video was captioned, “Hatto jao, we’re looking for Sajni.”
The film, set in rural India, showcases the story of two brides who get separated during a train journey and that leads to a complicated journey. The film has been co-produced under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Productions. Besides Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastava, the film also stars Nitanshi Goel, Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam.
The film opened to largely positive reviews from film critics. In his review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee gave Laapataa Ladies 3.5 stars out of 5 and he wrote, “Adapted from a story by Biplab Goswami and scripted by Sneha Desai (who has also written the dialogues with additional inputs from Divyanidhi Sharma), Laapataa Ladies is a social satire with a pronounced feminist accent that gives the film its rationale. The film is breezy and light on its feet. It is never, therefore, in danger of being bogged down by the weighty issues that it addresses. Its simple clarion call is in favour of the rights of women who are robbed of their dreams post-marriage and it is couched in simple methods that do not seek to draw too much attention to themselves.”
