Thaapi: Rewriting rules, redefining family pride and breaking traditions

Spread the news

A women’s kabaddi team, a family’s obsession with a male heir, and a fight that goes far beyond the playing field

Chandigarh: What happens when a family spends generations hoping for a male heir, only to discover that its future may rest in the hands of six young women? That is the emotional conflict at the heart of Thaapi, an upcoming Punjabi film that takes on patriarchal thinking on and beyond the kabaddi ground.
Slated for release on October 16, the film stars Neeru Bajwa alongside Sunny Singh, who is set to make his Punjabi cinema debut. It also marks Jagdeep Warring’s debut in the Pollywood industry.

The story revolves around an aging wrestler whose desire for a male heir reflects the deeply entrenched expectations of a traditional household. However, his daughter-in-law, Kammo, played by Neeru Bajwa, refuses to accept that a family’s legacy must depend on the birth of a son. Instead, she forms a women’s kabaddi team, challenging the beliefs that have long shaped her family and its understanding of honour and inheritance.

For the six young women, the kabaddi ground becomes a space to prove their abilities and challenge the boundaries imposed by society. Every match represents more than sporting ambition; it becomes a test of confidence, acceptance and the courage to stand up against established beliefs.

Neeru Bajwa’s character stands at the centre of this transformation, driving a narrative that places women’s agency and determination at the forefront. Rather than portraying the daughters as passive witnesses to a family conflict, the film gives them an active role in reshaping its course.

Presented by Smarters Films in association with Neeru Bajwa Entertainment and produced by Amanpreet Singh, Thaapi features an ensemble cast that includes Sukhwinder Chahal, Hashneen Chauhan, Sawan Rupowali, Malkeet Rauni and Gopi Bhalla, among others.

Blending sport, family drama and social commentary, Thaapi raises a question that extends beyond the cinema screen: is a family’s legacy defined by gender, or by the people willing to fight for its future?