Not just Alia Bhatt, Laapataa Ladies’ Phool Nitanshi Goel turns heads at Met Gala 2024, thanks to Photoshop

Alia Bhatt took the internet by storm when she made her appearance at Met Gala 2024 on Monday. However, she wasn’t the only Indian actor present at the celebrated global event.

Nitanshi Goel, the 17-year-old actor who made her debut recently as Phool in Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies, also made her Met Gala debut.

Phool in the Garden of Time

On Monday evening, the official social media handles of Aamir Khan Productions, which backed Laapataa Ladies, shared Nitanshi’s Photoshopped look from the Met Gala red carpet. She appeared in character, wearing a simple red sari, a maroon shawl draped over her shoulders, with a matching bindi on her forehead. She sported a modest smile as she held her sari with one hand and the shawl with the other.

The caption of the post read, “Our Phool blossoming in the garden of time (flower emoji) Watch #LaapataaLadies on @NetflixIndia now.” Nitanshi shared the post on her social media handles and wrote in the caption, “Met Gala 2024 (flower emoji).” The internet lauded her Met Gala debut.

One X user commented, “phool in her timeless shaadi ka joda (Indian bridal attire) (sparkle emoji).” Another wrote, “Favourite phool of the season (loved emoji).” “Such a fresh air to the industry. Way to go. Stay blessed,” read another comment. “From Surajmukhi to MetGala journey of Phool Kumari is the next big thing (grin emojis),” commented another user, referring to her character’s journey in the film.

Phool in Laapataa Ladies

Nitanshi played Phool, a young bride who gets lost, in the film. She told ANI how she prepared for her role. “I watched Sui Dhaaga, Balika Badhu and a lot of Bhojpuri women’s videos to see how the women are there because this is the story of 2001 and I am born in 2007. So I had never seen that era and now, I wanted to live this era in the audition itself. I wanted that by looking at my body language, people should feel that I am telling the story of those women. So I practised their body language and practiced how to wear a veil. I wanted a sari costume. I didn’t have a sari, so I made her a ready-made sari with a lehenga dupatta. Phool doesn’t say much in the film, but you can tell from her eyes what she wants to say.”

Laapataa Ladies is a story set in 2001 in rural India about two young brides who get separated during a train journey and what happens when Kishan, a police officer, takes it upon himself to probe the missing case. Presented by Jio Studios, Laapataa Ladies is directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande. The film has been produced under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Productions, with the scripting by Biplab Goswami. Sneha Desai wrote the screenplay and dialogue. The film, which released in cinemas on March 1, got tremendous appreciation upon its release on Netflix India in April.