Girls Will Be Girls is helmed by first time feature film director Suchi Talati. It follows the story of a high school top student in a coming of age story. But the story isn’t just about Mira played by Preeti Panigrahi but also about her mom Anila played by Kani Kusruti. Their complex relationship amid Mira’s rebellious romance with NRI boy Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), the tense environment in strict school. The film offers a change for millennials to live through some of their most embarrassing and traumatizing memories but also gives a chance to many more in building a better and more nutriting relationship with their mothers.
The film begins with Mira taking on the role of the school head prefect. She is good at everything, from exams to helping other students and also always remains in the good books of the teachers. Mira has done her best to look good and do good in her school but back home, she can’t stand her mom Anila. Hailing from the same school, where Mira feels the need to work hard to look good, her charismatic mom (ex-student) does it without effort. Their relationship has not been easy, but it gets worse as Mira begins to take interest in boy.
With the board exams getting closer, her mother would not tolerate any leniency there. While she is often the one who instigates dance breaks, conversation, modern and easy going clothing, studies is not somewhere she is willing to compromise. And spending too much time with a boy falls in that latter category. So when she catches Mira trying to talk to Sri late night, she calls him over so she can be the cool mom but also keep them in front of her. In an effort to keep some boundaries up between Sri and Mira, Anila’s relationship with her daughter gets worse.
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Amid having to keep up with school, a new relationship hidden from friends and her mother, Mira finds it hard to keep up the good girl image. In an effort to stay in the good books of her teachers, she loses her friends and support from others in school, especially when she rejects the proposal of one guy and is suspected to have a relationship with another. The film takes place in the 90s, which comes with the blame game, slut shaming and much more. Girls will be girls depicts it very well, in a raw and easy to follow screenplay.
The film’s screenplay focus on Mira’s experience and her point of view through out the run time. While she is a top student Preeti’s performance is calm and prideful but as the other aspects of her life begin to take over her life, the performance soon gets erratic, despite the calm demeanor of the 90s. On the other hand, Sri by Kesav is the catalyst that comes and goes but leaves a strong presence even off screen. All young actors in the film are artists to look forward to.
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Meanwhile, Kani Kusruti is as charismatic as her character but also the simplest of caring beings while seamlessly blends into every scene but it doesn’t take away from the character’s importance in the film. As the last scene, her presence will always brings warmth to the audience. The best part about Anila and the Suchi’s screenplay is a scene which builds her character as stern and a force to reckon with after playing with its narrative for half of the film.
Overall, Girls will be Girls is an experience worth going through more than once.
Cover artwork by Patrick Gawande/Mashable India