The Girlfriend Movie Review: Emotionally visceral, and the most timely film of the year

Films are not made in vacuum. One way or other, they always capture things happening around us. Similarly, they cannot be watched or reviewed in a vacuum either. How we respond to a movie is often dictated by what else has been happening around us in reality, and how those things impact our state of mind. When some version of reality is captured on screen, we can’t help but react strongly to it. 

Even by these standards, the timing for The Girlfriend, the latest Rashmika Mandanna-starrer, is eerily uncanny. It tells the story of Bhooma (Rashmika Mandanna), a young MA student who gets in a relationship with Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty). But underneath is a story about a young woman trying to find her voice in a world where men take up all the space, desperately dictate the terms, and decide how a woman will be seen by the world outside. 

Director: Rahul Ravindran

Cast: Rashmika Mandanna, Dheekshith Shetty, Rao Ramesh, Anu Emmanuel, Rohini

There’s something fascinating in the way Rahul Ravindran crafts his narrative — it unfolds from Bhooma’s point-of-view, and yet there are many scenes where she is seen merely reacting to everything happening to her. She is not the main character of her own story, it seems. Vikram tells her how she would lead her life after marriage, her father (Rao Ramesh) wants to decide whether she will stay at the college or not. Even in the scene where Durga (An impressive Anu Emmanuel) finally confesses to Bhooma about many things, Bhooma doesn’t say a word. Despite such huge changes, she is still geting used to the idea of taking charge of her life, and it will take time. A subdued, observing protagonist is a rarity. But then, that is the crux of story. Many would want to believe that things have evolved and that modern relationships are not as riddled with archaic dynamics or patriarchal desire for control — but The Girlfriend convincingly tells a story that’s both contemporary and timeless at once. 

The biggest accomplishment for the film is how it manages to keep us emotionally invested without going overboard with the ‘messaging.’ Yes, there is a pertinent point the film wants to make — but driving the heavy heart is a level-headed steering by Rahul Ravindran. Defying my biggest fears about it, The Girlfriend incorporates these little touches that only add to the emotional impact, without getting too verbose — be it the way Bhooma picks up her stole everytime she steps out of her room, or how a random man just feels entitled to stand in front of Bhooma, stop her in tracks, without an explanation. In one of the most telling moments, Rahul intersperses two sides of a story — while one side is busy abusing the other and indulging in pathetic self-pity, all we see the other person say is ‘sorry.’  The second half of the film straddles between a tense thriller (almost with a touch of horror) and a biting satire on toxic masculinity.  Vikram is one of the most obnoxious and irredeemable protagonists of recent times, and kudos to Dheekshith Shetty for capturing that with an understated intensity. 

In such an emotionally intense and visceral narrative, then, some of the most heartwrenching moments arrive when the film shifts the spotlight to its two leading women, Bhooma and Durga, as they bond over play  rehearsal sessions, or have a fun day out at a gaming arcade. In these portions, we see these two young women just being themselves — without the baggage of what they mean to the man in their lives, without worrying about winning their approval. It’s also in a scene with Durga where the film explores a particularly complex idea, about how Bhooma might be perfect for a man like Vikram, but it doesn’t necessarily go the other way round. Relationships sometimes are messy and complicated that way, and you don’t get many films that address the chaotic nature of such situations. In the hands of any other writer-director, Durga’s character could have easily come across as a prying vixen. But like any sensitive story about a woman, The Girlfriend knows that at the heart at every woman’s coming-of-age story lies female solidarity. Durga might act a little selfish on occasions, but her support for Bhooma triumphs her own desire to have Vikram as her partner. 

Bhooma is a dream role for any actor, and yet extremely challenging on a level very few other protagonist roles are. Bhooma drive the narrative, while expecting the audience to stay with her silences and to keep following her gaze. Rashmika succeeds in this challenge, and how. This film drives on her performance, and Rashmika delivers an absolute knock-out performance, living upto the task. 

Rohini appears in a one-scene cameo, but brings a brilliance only few actors like her can. Krishnan Vasant's camerawork captures the claustrophobic elements of the story with great effect. Special mention to Prashanth R Vihari’s background that takes the film’s intensity up by many notches, and consistently elevates the ticking bomb energy of the film, especially in the latter portions.

It’s poetic that The Girlfriend’s climactic scene takes place on a stage. After crsossing all the hurdles, it’s eventually about taking the space and finally giving your the place to be unabashedly yourself. It’s about taking charge of the conversations that are about you, and there is not a better time for film-goers, especially the male audience members, to hear this, loud and clear.