Meet the Stars of Laapataa Ladies: Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta and Sparsh Shrivastava

Imagine standing in front of Aamir Khan, who is a producer on Laapataa Ladies (2013), and him saying, “Dates nahi mil rahi ma’am ki? (We can’t get ma’am’s dates?)” The “ma’am” in question is Nitanshi Goel, an actor and influencer with a following of over 10 million on Instagram. Goel was so convinced about Laapataa Ladies (2024) that she gave up a role in a television serial because the dates were clashing. Which is to say that Khan and director Kiran Rao could in fact get ma’am’s dates.

For her second film, Rao turned away from the moody, urban poetry of Dhobi Ghat (2010) and went to the north Indian heartland. Laapataa Ladies is a comedy set in the fictional Nirmal Pradesh and its three protagonists are all relative newcomers. While Goel has acted in television shows and is well known for her social media content — she started “Nitanshi ki Boli” during the pandemic and it went viral — and Sparsh Shrivastav was last seen in Jamtara — Sabka Number Aayega, their past work felt like stepping stones to making Rao’s charming comedy. For Pratibha Ranta, who has previously acted in television shows, Laapataa Ladies marks her big-screen debut.   

Goel plays Phool, who unwittingly ends up getting ‘swapped’ with Jaya (Ranta) because both are new brides, rendered anonymous by their wedding veils. Connecting the two women is the hapless Deepak (Shrivastav), who is married to Phool but finds Jaya under the bridal veil when they come home from the wedding. Add to this the morally ambiguous and pan-munching cop, Inspector Manohar (Ravi Kishan) and the steely Manju Maai (Chhaya Kadam), who is the mother figure for a rag-tag bunch of survivors, and you have an ensemble that wins you over in no time.      

For the three young actors, getting to work with Rao and sharing space with veteran actors like Ravi Kishan felt like a dream. In conversation with Film Companion, all three said it felt like everything till now had led them to Laapataa Ladies and that their roles felt like they were written for them. 

Here are edited excerpts from the interview: 

Sparsh Shrivastav, from Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega to Laapataa Ladies 

SS: You won’t believe it, but Aamir Khan sir watched Jamtara — perhaps he was free due to the lockdown.  He spotted me in that show, and he texted me saying, “Hi, this is Aamir Khan. I loved your work. If you are free I would like to talk to you.” I thought it was a scam — how would Aamir Khan have my number? Just to confirm, I sent him a photo of Aamir Khan, and said, “Are you this Aamir Khan?” He said yes. I said, “Main nahi maanta, voice note bhejo (I don’t believe you, send a voice note.)” He said, “If you are free, let me video call you.” I was certain someone was pranking me so I put my finger on the camera lens before picking up the call. I’m not one to be star-struck but I got so nervous. 

The Script Immediately Clicked with the Young Cast

PR: When I read the three pages that we had received for the audition, I was like, “This is such fantastic writing.” In the very first reading, I was able to visualise the world and the characters. Just imagine how nicely it was written! Just from three pages, I was able to see myself in that role. You won’t believe (this), but when all three of us auditioned, we had this intuition that this role was going to come our way.

SS: She is right. My audition happened during the last wave of COVID, and we had to send our auditions on self-tape. I did not have a set-up, tripod or anything. I just knew that I had to do this. So, I took the chaawal ka dabba (rice storage container), stuck a stick into it and balanced my phone on it to record my audition. I think the reason we were all feeling like we were going to crack this audition is because we all approached it with a lot of honesty. We really wanted to do this film. This is the one audition that I still go back and watch.

Nitanshi Goel and her ‘Makeshift Sari’

NG: My audition for this film is one of those rare things that I am able to watch not as a critic but as an audience. I watched a lot of videos of old movie clips — trying to get the (spoken) language and the body language right. The audition happened on Zoom, and I had very few lines — a lot of it was just reaction. Like Sparsh had a makeshift tripod, I had a makeshift sari — with a dupatta and a blouse. There are very few auditions that happen in just one take, and this was one of those. It felt like I was on to something. Like Pratibha and Sparsh, I thought this character was for me and I wanted to do it. 

I got a call saying “Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao want to meet you”, and I just jumped at the chance. I wore my DIY saree to the meeting. Aamir sir told us about the logistics, and my mumma said, “Sir, please give us a confirmation so that we can make a decision about the show that she is about to shoot.” Aamir sir said, “Kya baat kar rahe hai? Dates nahi mil rahi ma’am ki? (What are you saying? Does ma’am have no available dates?)” (laughs) I informed the director of  the TV show, who generously told me I should do the film. (note: Goel was cast in a television show and the shooting dates clashed with those of Laapataa Ladies).