After Karnal’s world-famous Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian origin woman to go into space, we have Sanya Dhingra who wants to raise the status of women in this bustling Haryana town. The reference to Ms Chawla comes up a couple of times in ‘Chhatriwali’, clearly the writers of the film are proud of this real-life Karnal-ki-beti.
But Ms Dhingra (Rakul Preet Singh), the film’s fictional chemistry whizz, is no pie-in-the-sky dreamer. All she wants is for people to practice safe sex — men to use condoms so that women are saved from unwanted pregnancies and health hazards. Going by the difficulties she faces, it’s clear that an astronaut’s job is easier.