An adolescent girl looks at herself in the mirror. She measures her overgrown axillary hair and applies cream to the corners of her face. A peppy, suggestive song begins to play. Her routine actions take on a rhythm. She breaks into a dance, admiring herself and basking in the sleepy glow of the afternoon sun. She sees herself in a new light. She had just met a boy.
Directed by: Shuchi Talati
Cast: Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls is a story of discovery, filled with such tender moments. Every gesture, every glance conveys something beyond the surface. When we meet the protagonist, Mira (a fabulous Preeti Panigrahi), she is badged as the Head Prefect at her boarding school. She takes to the stage and asks students to recite the pledge after her: “As a student of my school...I pledge to abide by the rules.” Standing in a line, a tall, dark, and handsome boy only smiles. Abide by the rules. Later, he holds a paper on the notice board as she places pins on it. She hides a smile. Who knew sticking flyers could be so romantic?
But this isn’t just a surface-level love story. It goes deeper. It is a transformation—a slow realization for Mira, empowered by a patriarchal system, that her mother Anila (the consistently amazing Kani Kusruti) might not be the enemy. Anila comes to the hill town where Mira’s boarding school is, to live with her until her board exams. One night, she catches Mira speaking to Srinivas (the promising Kesav Binoy Kiran), the boy mentioned earlier. She calls him home for a chat. He manages to charm her. “He is a good boy,” Anila tells her daughter. “Very mature for his age.”
Sri starts frequenting Mira’s place, forming a bond with Anila that might feel inappropriate at first glance. Here, Shuchi’s measured writing and masterful character-building come to the rescue. Sri’s parents are suggested to be absent. When Anila asks him who he is more like, his mother or his father, he replies, saying he doesn’t know. “They do their thing, I do mine.” His relationship with Anila can be interpreted as having sexual undercurrents but can also be seen as just a lonely teen’s need for a mother figure. It is complex, Oedipal. Anila herself seems to be in a loveless marriage and, in one scene, is seen reading a book with an ominous title: Desire & Doom.
Girls Will Be Girls is also a riveting psychological drama. There is jealousy and tension simmering between Mira and Anila, which might have exploded in a lesser film. The scenes are written and edited in a way that feels neither fluffy nor incomplete. Oftentimes, you have to look closely to fully absorb the film’s depth. Notice the spring in Mira’s step as she goes downstairs after being appointed Head Prefect. Or how she nervously holds on to the seam of her night suit as her mother interrogates her about who she was talking to so late.
The cinematography by Taiwanese cinematographer Jih-E-Ping, who has collaborated with Shuchi before on the short A Period Piece, is warm and serene, like a painting depicting still life. The subtle, pointed performances elevate the film. Debutante Preeti plays Mira with an adorable innocence. Kani, as Anila, speaks the most when she holds back, and Kesav gives a measured performance as a well-mannered manipulator.
The film gently touches on themes of gender roles, patriarchy, young love, and teenage hormonal urges. Its strength lies in its restraint. Mira and her mother never have an explosive confrontation, but a simple gesture—like Anila asking Mira to get her own milkshake from the kitchen while she and Sri enjoy theirs—feels like a knife to the chest. Or when Sri asks Mira if he can come by next week, and she stays silent for a long, long time. Heaven hath no fury.