No promises, no demands.

 Many Bollywood movies, even and perhaps especially the romantic comedies, are driven by moral calculus.  The protagonists are torn between personal fulfillment, family duty, and the expectations of society, and they need to strike the right balance, and make the correct choice, even if it means sacrificing everything.  Make the right choice, sacrifice the right things,and your virtue will be rewarded.  You may not get everything back, but at least you'll get to see your elders make the "Wow, such values" face as they marvel at your inherent virtue.  Laaga Chunari Mein Daag: Journey of a Woman (2007) offers a course in Advanced Moral Calculus.  

The Sahay family live in a crumbling mansion in Varanasi, by the sacred waters of the Ganges.  They are Jane Austen poor; father Shivshankar (Anupam Kher) sells old books form the library and buys lottery tickets hoping that that will restore the family fortunes, mother Savitri (Jaya Bachchan) sews clothes and is paid in installments, older sister Vibha (Rani Mukherji) quit school to help her mother, younger sister Shubhi (Konkona Sen Sharma) is still in school and is the hope of the family, and evil uncle Rajjo (Tinnu Anand) is scheming to seize the mansion through legal trickery.

Still, the sisters are very close and seize whatever joy they can, performing a merry song about how they are young and carefree and nothing will ever change them.  Things are looking up when a film company offers to rent part of the house for a shoot; the money from the advance means that Vibha can pay the power bill, and the sisters befriend production assistant Sophia (Tarana Raja) and get to meet a famous classical dancer (Hema Malini) who is captivated by Vibha's purity and beauty.  

But it can't last.  There's a riot in the city, so the shoot is cancelled and Savitri has to return the advance; the director notices that the stack of money is a bit lighter, but doesn't do more than comment, which makes the whole thing even more humiliating.  Shivshakar suffers a heart attack, and the family needs money now, especially as Rajjo is about to take everything.

Vibha announces that she's leaving for Mumbai; she says she has a job lined up already (she doesn't) and that Sophia has agreed to let her live with her (also not true.)  Sophia is not happy to see her, but agrees to let her stay on a strictly temporary basis, and even lines up a job interview for her.  It's a disaster.  Every job Vibha manages to land is a disaster, because she dropped out of school doesn't speak English, and has no marketable skills besides sewing and knitting.  All the while Savitri keeps calling, asking when Vibha will be able to send some money.

Karan (Ninad Karnat), the neighbor downstairs, has a good job at a call center but he refuses to try and get Vibha a job there, claiming that he doesn't want to inflict his horrible boss on her.  But Shivshankar has had another heart attack, the house is collapsing around the family, and Savitri keeps asking when Vibha will be able to send money, so she takes a risk and goes to the call center.  Karan's boss, K. K. Gupta (Harsh Chayya) doesn't seem horrible at first, and he invites Vibha in, explaining that while she's not technically qualified for the job, but there are always exceptions.  Vibha still doesn't get it, so he explains that he will give her the job if she sleeps with him.  She storms off.

Vibha returns to the flat, but Sophia announces that she's kicking her out. She calls her mother to say that she's coming home and tries to explain what happened, but Savitri isn't really listening and demands that she grow up and make the job happen, only realizing what her daughter said after the phone call.  Vibha goes to Gupta, but afterwards he laughs and says there's no job, she's just not qualified, but he throws money at her and promises that if she keeps him happy he'll give her more.

Vibha is completely devastated , and Karan blames himself.  He takes her to stay with his friend Michele (Suchira Pillai), who has a modest proposal: Mumbai is full of men like Gupta, but Vibha can get what she wants form them if she deals with them on her own terms.  She agrees, and with Michele's help she learns English, obtains a stylish modern wardrobe, and reinvents herself as a high-class escort named Natasha.  She is hugely successful, and suddenly she has the money to deal with all of the family's problems.  Savitri has figured out where the money is coming from, but Vibha is the only thing standing between them and utter ruin, so she says nothing.

And then the tone shifts again, because while the plot may scream "art movie," this is a commercial masala picture.  A regular client (Murli Sharma) hires Natasha to join him at a conference in Switzerland.  On the plane she meets a handsome stranger named Rohan Verma (Abhisek Bachchan), and sparks fly.  It turns out that Rohan is presenting at the same conference, and when she has a day off they explore Bern together, but she can't live in a dream so she vanishes without a word and returns to Mumbai, just in time for the next plot twist.

Shubhi has graduated, thanks to Vibha's financial help.  Better yet, she's landed a job at an advertising firm in Mumbai, has bonded with her handsome but slovenly supervisor, Vivaan Verma (Kunal Kapoor), and has stumbled into a new career as a model for a brand of detergent, the kind of instant stardom that happens all the time in Bollywood and utterly failed to happen for Vibha.  Living a double life is a lot harder when your sister is in town, but Vibha does her best, and she's there when Vivaan proposes.  

Vibha calls home to give the family the happy news, and Savitri begs her not to return home; people are already suspicious about where the money is coming from.  Naturally, staying in Mumbvai kicks off a chain of events leading to Shubhi discovering the truth.  And then there's the revelation that Vivaan has an older brother . . .

Again, this is a masala movie, not an art house film, so while Natasha's life as an escort isn't glamorized, it also isn't really shown except in the most sanitized and anodyne way possible.  This movie lacks the gritty realism of the video for "Love is a Battlefield," but it's not interested in the details, it's interested in the moral calculus, with Vibha sacrificing her happiness and personal honor for the sake of her family, leading to the inevitable moment when her parents realize the full extent of what she's done.

And yet.  Sex workers are not uncommon in Bollywood movies of the era, but they're usually there to further the plotline of the leads, and they tend to die tragically, occasionally managing a life of solitary chastity as their reward, like Preity Zinta's character in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke.  (Also starring Rani Mukherji.)  This is Vibha's story; she's presented as a person in her own right, with agency and value, and she's quick to point out that the women on the street are also people with agency and value.  Vibha gets her happy ending, marrying the mans he loves and basking in her parents' "Wow, such values" face.  She's earned it.