 "EXCLUSIVE! Kani Kusruti on Girls Will Be Girls: ‘I grew up watching amazingly written women's roles in Malayalam cinema’")
Kani Kusruti, Preeti Panigrahi, Kesav Binoy Kiron and co-producer, Ali Fazal talk about Prime Video’s Girls Will Be Girls. It is a beautiful tale of a bright and sharp girl played by Preeti Panigra who lives in a boarding school. She is disciplined and a head girl of her school. The movie is a slow burn, but it touches your right senses. Set in a residential school, Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls has an old-world charm.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
What do you have to say about the way women’s roles are changing, in context with _Girls Will Be Girls_ ?
Kani: If I talk about Malayalam cinema, there were very well written female characters, especially in the 80s. I grew up, watching amazingly written characters, very nuanced, powerful, vulnerable, and they were never ornamental. Only for a brief period Malayalam cinema had ornamental female characters. It’s a wave that comes back, goes away and comes back again. Other regional cinema, I have not watched much.
Preeti, how did you get into this role and what was your preparation like?
One of my friends from the Theatre circuit, she was interning with Dilip Shankar(sir) and she reached out to me and asked me to send her an introduction for this and I did. I sent a couple of screen tests from home. Dilip(Sir) got in touch with me and briefed me about the project. He was very transparent about how the filming will take place. He also wanted to know if I was an independent person and if I could make my own decisions. He also invited me to read the script, which was very new for me. The beginning itself was very transparent and I was confident this will be a good project to collaborate with. I was right about that. This journey has really shaped me to who I am right now.
Keshav, how much do you relate to the character that you have played in
_Girls Will Be Girls_ ? Keshav:
There was a physical outline in the beginning, which I had to relate to. I was settled abroad and then I also came back in similar situations during that time. The person that I playing in the film, Sri has also gone through a similar change.
It was also important for me to find the differences between me and my character. The casting director Dilip Shankar really helped me, he said that I might be a simple person but this character is more complex so be ready to surrender. We had a workshop and we used some tools throughout the process so that really helped in getting into that character.
Kani: When I saw him, I asked Shuchi, our director, ‘How will he do this, he’s such a nice person.’ He’s not playing a bad character, but I can see through him. He’s very transparent in real life. So I was like he really will have to pull off that part. When I saw the film, I felt he really played the grey shade well.
Ali, have you ever met such men in your life?
Ali: I was maybe one of those in some form or the other. Being in school and in the good books of all the teachers and all your female friends. Being in an all- boy- school, you might not even know how to talk to the other the sex.
Watch the trailer of Prime Video’s Girls Will Be Girls here:
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