Girls Will Be Girls Review: Plot - Girls Will Be Girls Review: Plot - Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is a teenager studying in a Himalayan boarding school. We meet her on the day she is announced Head Prefect, a position of power that puts her above every other student in the school. Between schooling other girls on discipline and uniform, she develops a crush on Srinivas (Kesav Binoy Kiran), a well-traveled new student who runs an astronomy club because maybe that makes him look cool and nerdy! They soon form a bond that reaches Mira’s mother, Anila, who decides to call Sri over and then asks him to come often to study and enjoy home-cooked meals. The struggle to get Sri’s attention makes Mira (and, perhaps momentarily, even Anila) forget they’re not rivals but mother and daughter. What this blooms into is the film.

Girls Will Be Girls Review: Analysis

How many times have you come across teenage dramas in the Indian space where you, as a teenager, felt represented? For most of the last decade, it was luxurious-looking colleges that had their own triathlons with debutant actors, who weren’t even teenagers, representing teens in a setup alien to over 90 percent of Indian teenagers. Of course, those films deserve to exist and have an audience. But what about that 90 percent who didn’t see themselves there? Writer-director Shuchi Talati, in an attempt to capture the impact of patriarchy and its conditioning, writes Girls Will Be Girls with a pen that looks beyond just whether they’ll end up together. There's a bigger canvas that is excited to be explored, and Talati taps right into it with three stellar actors.

Of course, there has been Kota Factory, which showed the reality of a very large teenage population of the country. Now, look at Girls Will Be Girls as a deeper character analysis, exploring what happens when one of those students returns home. In her debut feature (yes, it’s only her debut), Shuchi Talati writes a story about a girl and a woman, blending two coming-of-age tales into one seamlessly—until a disruptor walks in to shake it up. But the film also carefully lets us delve into the minds of these two women, who doubt themselves first and others later. Though they’re at different stages of confidence, both are still victims of conditioning that has plagued generations in this country and maybe the world.

Girls Will Be Girls is set right when those teenage rom-coms usually take a flowery turn. It instead takes you on a detour, showing why you should think twice before going down that path. When Anila returns to spend time with Mira and takes her home, which is actually near the hostel, she unknowingly creates a bubble. Two women are now building a world devoid of men (do they really ‘need’ one? Well, they’ve been told so for ages). When Mira meets a tall, charming teenage boy who knows the trick to impress, he disrupts this bubble. In Talati’s film, both women are coming of age because Anila, too, has a suppressed girl inside her, who she may redeem through Mira. But when Sri enters their world, the girl in Anila, like Mira, also craves his attention.

This is where the competition begins. Anila and Mira vie for Srinivas, who’s probably just looking for a momentary connection before he moves to the next town with his dad’s transfer. It’s fascinating how Shuchi writes Girls Will Be Girls with an almost meta approach, putting even the audience to the test. Each time Anila draws close to Sri, makes him sleep in her bed, plays with his hair, or restricts Mira from seeing him while she gossips with him, you feel a sense of impending discomfort. Even Mira thinks along similar lines, being as conditioned by patriarchy as we are. Kani Kusruti portrays Anila with ambiguity; she’s unpredictable and almost seductive (though not overtly sexual). She can defend her daughter yet hesitates to do the same for herself, even when the man in question is her husband. Kani’s portrayal is brilliant and rewarding to watch.

Through Mira, played by a balanced Preeti Panigrahi, Shuchi Talati explores a teenage girl’s sexual awakening. She discusses it with the boy she’s interested in, practices kissing in the shower, and is surprised by his knowledge. Yet, even in these moments, she doesn’t see him as a red flag but questions herself for overthinking. Panigrahi is a confident actor, aware of her radiant screen presence, which she balances with subtlety, elevating the story. She’s an observer to a bond that could take any direction, even the wildest. She’s at odds with her mother because they’re both competing for a teenage boy’s attention.

Kesav Binoy Kiran embodies Sri as a clueless boy who doesn’t quite know what he’s doing but acts cool. He has a charm and mystery about him, partly because we’re conditioned to see male protagonists as charming. When Shuchi Talati strips this illusion away in the final moments, you see a shallow boy rolling from place to place, looking for people to anchor himself to. Kesav’s honest portrayal is a great addition to this dynamic with two exceptional actresses.

Will society ever let girls just be? This question metaphorically hovers when a school principal lectures girls about skirt length and being “mindful.” She’s okay with Mira telling her friend to avoid boys, but when Mira complains about boys taking inappropriate photos, the principal hesitates to act. Shuchi Talati effectively presents society’s structure through a principal’s cabin, showing that women often bear the responsibility to bring order by suppressing their voices and choices, while men do as they please. This pattern persists even when a woman is in charge because of her own conditioning.

Shuchi Talati’s debut feature Girls Will Be Girls doesn’t feel like a debut but rather the work of a seasoned talent. Even when the script occasionally veers off, the visual language maintains the momentum. Kudos to Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal for backing such a film. Cinematographer Jih-E Peng crafts visuals with care, giving even chaotic scenes a sense of calm, allowing viewers time to absorb each moment. Girls Will Be Girls is a collaborative success that shines.

Girls Will Be Girls Review: Final Verdict

Seeing real stories that reflect our experiences on screen is crucial to documenting our society and its flaws. Girls Will Be Girls doesn’t villainize anyone but sheds light on what women endure due to societal expectations in a simple, digestible way.

Girls Will Be Girls is currently making the festival rounds. I had the privilege of seeing it at the MAMI Film Festival. 

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