This
film
should
appear
on
every
year-end
‘Best
of’
list,
recommends
Mayur
Sanap.
In
a
landscape
dominated
by
extravagant
film
franchises
and
flashy
entertainers,
experiencing
a
film
like
Girls
Will
Be
Girls
is
pretty
much
miraculous.
And
reassuring.
That’s
because
it
is
a
work
of
first-time
Writer-Director
Shuchi
Talati,
who
takes
a
familiar
story
of
teen
angst
and
renders
it
into
a
truly
authentic
portrayal
of
adolescence
that
demonstrates
her
signature
voice
as
a
film-maker.
The
title
is
a
quirky
spin
on
the
saying
‘boys
will
be
boys’,
and
gives
us
an
intimate
look
into
the
mind
of
a
16-year-old
high-school
girl,
played
by
the
incandescent
Preeti
Panigrahi.
It
is
essentially
a
coming-of-age
story
that
gently
talks
about
social
conditioning
and
how
it
looms
large
in
a
person’s
formative
years.
There
are
multiple
threads
within
its
carefully
constructed
narrative.
It
is
about
a
mother-daughter
relationship.
The
blossoming
of
teen
love.
And
a
love
letter
to
the
fumbling
and
awkward
years
of
middle
school.
Without
resorting
to
any
banal
sentimentality
or
weepy
melodramatic
situations,
Talati
shows
such
honesty
and
precision
in
her
story-telling
that
it
feels
almost
like
an
observational
documentary
than
a
scripted
feature
film,
which
makes
it
a
rare
cinema-watching
experience.
Preeti
Panigrahi
is
Mira,
a
star
student
at
her
boarding
school
set
in
the
scenic
hills
of
Dehradun.
She
is
academically
sound
and
seems
to
be
wise
beyond
her
age,
which
is
why
it
is
quickly
established
that
she
is
chosen
as
the
school’s
first
girl
prefect.
Mira’s
vivacious
mother,
Anila,
played
by
Kani
Kusruti,
has
momentarily
shifted
with
her
daughter
ahead
of
her
fast-approaching
board
exams.
‘I
just
can’t
stand
her,’
Mira
says
about
her
equation
with
her
over-bearing
mother.
But
Anila
sees
this
as
an
opportunity
to
emotionally
re-connect
with
Mira
who
has
grown
distant
from
her
mother.
At
school,
Mira
is
drawn
to
Sri
(Kesav
Binoy
Kiron),
an
international
exchange
student
who
is
still
adjusting
to
his
new
life
in
the
hilly
town.
Sri
and
Mira
grow
fond
of
each
other
and
soon
embark
on
a
secret
romance.
Anila
gets
a
whiff
of
their
friendship
but
instead
of
rebuking
her
daughter,
she
allows
goodie-two-shoes
Sri
to
come
over
so
that
he
can
study
with
Mira,
under
her
watchful
eye.
The
dynamic
between
these
three
characters
takes
a
strange
turn
when
Anila
also
starts
enjoying
the
young
boy’s
company,
which
inadvertently
creates
a
messy
puzzle
of
love
and
affection.
There’s
a
constant
undercurrent
of
unfamiliar
in
Girls
Will
Be
Girls
that
makes
it
borderline
unnerving.
But
Director
Talati
doesn’t
exploit
our
attention
for
shock
value.
For
a
film
about
female
sexual
awakening,
it
is
all
very
delicate
and
precise,
be
it
Mira
gazing
at
her
naked
body
in
the
mirror,
or
pleasuring
herself,
or
practising
kissing
on
her
hand.
These
scenes
are
shown
with
a
very
matter-of-fact
way
with
Jih-E
Peng’s
cinematography
adding
in
touch
of
sensitivity.
Just
like
Varun
Grover’s
All
India
Rank,
this
film
also
lives
in
small
moments
that
feel
big,
while
gently
peeling
off
the
layers
surrounding
its
teenage
protagonist.
And
because
it’s
a
female
protagonist,
there’s
an
added
edge
of
social
conditioning
of
patriarchy.
It
is
shown
through
Mira’s
school
principal
(played
by
a
suitably
stern
Devika
Shahani),
who
monitors
the
length
of
skirts
for
female
students
and
tells
them
to
simply
keep
quiet
when
the
boys
behave
inappropriately.
The
impact
is
quietly
heart-breaking
which
tells
us
just
how
much
awkward
growing
up
can
be.
As
Mira,
Preeti
Panigrahi
has
a
naturally
sympathetic
face
that
strikes
the
emotional
chord.
Her
Mira
is
not
a
wayward
kid
like
Christine
from
Lady
Bird,
but
most
of
her
anguish
is
constrained
within
her
straight,
stoic
expression
while
being
in
complete
control
of
her
feelings.
Yet,
there’s
a
scene
in
which
Mira
tries
to
hide
her
searing
emotions
when
she
defiantly
tells
Anila
to
‘keep
the
door
open’.
Nothing
will
prepare
you
for
the
sheer
emotional
intensity
that
this
scene
brings
in.
In
a
stark
contrast
to
her
turn
in
All
We
Imagine
As
Light,
Kani’s
Anila
possess
a
certain
degree
of
flamboyance
that’s
very
refreshing
to
see.
She
is
seemingly
unhappy
in
her
marriage
whose
conversations
with
her
workaholic
husband
are
mostly
focused
on
their
daughter’s
studies
and
well-being.
We
learn
that
she
is
an
ex-student
from
Mira’s
school,
so
when
she
visits
her
daughter,
the
same
principal
gives
her
a
cold
look
that
implies
Anila
also
comes
with
her
own
defiant
past.
As
the
film
progresses,
we
see
the
come-of-age
not
just
for
the
daughter
but
also
for
the
mother,
but
in
a
satisfying
change
from
the
traditional
‘lessons
learned’
conclusion.
It
is
this
mother
and
daughter
dynamic
that
will
stick
with
me
for
a
long
time
in
a
film
that
should
appear
on
every
year-end
‘Best
of’
list.
Girls
Will
Be
Girls
streams
on
Amazon
Prime
Video.
Girls
Will
Be
Girls Review
Rediff
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