Eetha trailer: Shraddha Kapoor steps into the world of Lavani

Maddock Films and Kathputli Creations released the trailer for Eetha on Friday, giving a first full look at Shraddha Kapoor as Eetha Bai, a Lavani performer. The musical drama, directed by Laxman Utekar, is inspired by the life of Vithabai Bhau Mang Narayangaonkar, the Maharashtrian Lavani and Tamasha artist. It opens in cinemas on 4 December.

The trailer moves through the stages of its heroine’s career and frames her story as a rise against the odds. The Times of India noted the clear break from Kapoor’s Stree image, and Cinema Express described an opening in which the character, wounded and angry, throws mud at a cut-out poster of herself.

Randeep Hooda, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub and Siddharth Jadhav are part of the cast. Ajay-Atul have composed the music, and the film is produced by Dinesh Vijan and Utekar, whose previous film was Chhaava.

Our take: 3.5 out of 5

The trailer’s strongest asset is its look. The Lavani and Tamasha sequences are staged with colour and scale, and Kapoor gets a role unlike anything she has played recently. The weakness is how much it gives away: the trailer runs through most of the story’s turns, and the struggle-to-legend arc is a familiar one for a biopic. This is our opinion of the trailer only; the film is not out yet.