 "Girls Will Be Girls Movie Review")
Language: English (primarily), Hindi and Malayalam
Director: Shuchi Talati
Cast: Kani Kusruti, Preeti Panigrahi and Kesav Binoy Kiron
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. Writer-director Shuchi Talati’s debut film shows her keen eye for observation for minute details.
Girls Will Be Girls is a psychological drama and you will realise that gradually. Deeply engaging, Shuchi Talati’s movie explores the psychology of the young adults and a mother who is craving for love and attention. The film is much more than a mother-daughter relationship. It isn’t a frivolous teenage love story. You will realise that the teenage minds can be hugely complex. G__irls Will Be Girls follows the 18-year-old Mira, played by Preeti Panigrahi who falls in love with Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron) a diplomat’s son who is new to the school.
One of the first scenes of G__irls Will Be Girls shows that Mira is being made the head girl of a co-ed residential school. There are people who are happy and there are people who aren’t with her selection. Some of the boys find it hard to take instructions from her.
Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is a disciplined child, but like any young teenager she wants to try out the pleasures of sex. She desires the attention of Sri, who is a diplomat’s son and not a good student like Mira. But there is something that is magnetic about him, that Mira falls for. His father being a diplomat, he has travelled the world and has a way with people. That’s indeed a quality which vulnerable Mira doesn’t. She is emotional and sometimes reckless. Prime Video’s Girls Will Be Girls delves into the minute details of the lives of these young adults from high school.
The actual complexities of the film start when Anila (Kani Kusruti), Mira’s mother, comes to her house close to her daughter’s school. She wants her daughter to get the comfort of home while she prepares for her board exams. Mira one day brings her friend Sri home and as Sri has a way with people, charms her mother, Anila on the very first visit. She allows him to study with her in her house under her supervision. Gradually these visits become very frequent. The relationship that Sri and Anila develop make the situation all the more complicated for Mira.
Anila who loves attention and lives on a diet of Mills & Boon books gets close to Sri which is not liked by Mira. Mira, who is always distant from her mother, hates the idea that her boyfriend is getting close to her mother. Girls Will Be Girls is not a typical love story, it is about how human minds work. With not much dialogue and there is not a single song in the film, most of the talking is done through expressions and actions and that is the real magic of Girls Will Be Girls!
Rating: 3 and half out of 5
Watch the trailer of Prime Video’s Girls Will Be Girls here:
Lachmi Deb Roy is the entertainment editor of Firtspost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes huge interest in world cinema. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until its a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.