‘Girls Will Be Girls Is About Your First Crush’

‘The
flutters
of
excitement
of
a
high-school
romance,
and
then
how
life
changes.’

After
making
the
rounds
of
international
film
festival
circuits,
Shuchi
Talati’s

Girls
Will
Be
Girls
is
all
set
to
premiere
on
Amazon
Prime
Video.

Richa
Chadha
and
Ali
Fazal,
who
are
backing
the
film
under
their
banner
Pushing
Buttons
Studios,
announced
that
the
film
will
be
released
on
December
18.

The
film
won
two
awards
at
the
Sundance
Film
Festival
earlier
this
year,
including
the
World
Cinema
Dramatic
Special
Jury
Award
in
Acting
for
lead
performer
Preeti
Panigrahi
and
the
Audience
Award
in
the
same
section.

Girls
Will
Be
Girls
also
received
the
Grand
Jury
Prize
at
the
Indian
Film
Festival
in
Los
Angeles,
the
Best
Film
at
the
Jakarta
International
Film
Festival
and
the
Transilvania
Trophy
at
the
Transilvania
International
Film
Festival.

The
film
was
also
showcased
at
the
Toronto
International
Film
Festival,
the
Cannes
Film
Festival,
and
the
Berlin
International
Film
Festival.

The
India
premiere
took
place
at
the
MAMI
Mumbai
Film
Festival
in
October,
where
it
received
a
special
mention
from
the
jury.

“This
is
an
Indian
film
for
the
Indian
audience,
so
we
are
very
happy
that
our
people
will
finally
be
able
to
watch
this
film,”
says
Richa
at
the
special
showcase
of
the
film’s
trailer.

When
a
curious
reporter
asked
if
this
is
a
“message-heavy”
film,
Richa
quickly
replied
that
there
is
no
message
in
the
film.

“People
often
think
festival
films
mean
message-oriented
films.
But
that’s
not
the
case
here,”
she
said.

“It
is
a
sweet
mother-daughter
story.
It
is
about
your
first
crush.
The
flutters
of
excitement
of
a
high-school
romance,
and
then
how
life
changes.
When
you
take
a
leap
into
the
real
world
as
an
adult,
these
experiences
eventually
shape
you.”

Set
in
the
late
1990s,
the
story
revolves
around
a
girl
named
Mira
(played
by
Preeti
Panigrahi)
who
studies
at
a
boarding
school
in
Dehradun.
She
is
guarded
by
her
strict
mother
played
by
actor
extraordinaire
Kani
Kusruti.

The
story
takes
the
turn
when
Mira
develops
a
spark
of
romance
with
a
new
student
(Kesav
Binoy
Kiron),
which
then
sets
the
course
for
these
three
characters.

Speaking
about
how
the
film
shaped
up
over
the
years,
Ali
shares
that
they
got
the
script
from
Shuchi
in
2018
but
COVID
delayed
the
process
and
many
people
who
were
associated
with
the
film
had
to
leave
the
project.

“It
is
hard
to
raise
finances
for
an
independent
film
like
this,”
says
Ali.

“It
is
indeed
very
hard,”
adds
Richa,
“but
in
my
career,
I
have
done
mostly
independent
films,
so
we
had
to
produce
it.”

Speaking
about
their
creative
partnership
as
producers,
Richa
says
both
Ali
and
her
are
creative
and
business-minded.

“It’s
fun
discussing
work
with
her.
There
are
creative
conflicts
between
us
all
the
time
but
that’s
when
the
conversations
happen,”
Ali
remarks.

Ali
shares
he
was
monitoring
audition
clips
while
he
was
shooting
for

Mirzapur.
Richa
was
also
busy
with

Heeramandi:
The
Diamond
Bazaar.

They
were
prepping
for
their
wedding
during
the
same
time,
Richa
says,
which
was
“really
crazy”
for
them.

Talking
about
the
casting
process,
Ali
says,
“This
is
the
genius
of
Shuchi
Talati,
she
has
written
it
like
a
thriller.
It
is
about
a
mother-daughter
relationship
and
the
romance
between
Preeti
and
Kesav.
These
topics
are
delicately
touched
upon.
The
casting
needed
to
be
delicate
too,
and
that’s
how
we
got
Dilip
Shankar
on
board
who
did
the
casting
for
this
film.”

Since
the
film
is
about
female
sexual
awakening,
Richa
was
asked
if
they
felt
the
need
of
having
an
intimacy
coordinator
set,
to
which
she
says,
“No.’

“We
did
not
have
the
budget
for
an
intimacy
coordinator
because
they
charge
a
lot,”
Richa
explains.

“What
we
did
have
was
a
female
director,
a
female
DoP
(Director
Of
Photography),
and
female
lighting
assistants.
After
each
scene,
the
director
would
ask
the
actors
if
they
are
doing
okay.
So
it
was
a
very
safe
environment
on
the
sets.”

Talking
about
the
challenges
of
being
an
independent
producer
in
India,
Richa
cites
the
examples
of

Santosh,
Shameless,
All
We
Imagine
As
Light,
Nocturnes
and
saats
independent
films
from
India
are
doing
great
this
year.

“Independent
cinema
is
still
struggling
but
there
is
a
lot
of
change.
We
are
in
the
period
of
flux
right
now.
I
am
blessed
that
this
is
direct-to-digital
release,
because
that
takes
the
pressure
off
independent
producers.”

“If
the
cost
of
production
is
less
than
the
marketing
budget
of
the
film,
the
person
who
suffers
is
the
independent
producer.
And
that’s
why
there
are
fewer
and
fewer,”
she
adds.

When
asked
if
she
would
have
loved
playing
a
role
in

Girl
Will
Be
Girls,
Richa
says,
“That
was
never
the
question
because
for
my
first
film,
I
didn’t
want
to
wear
two
hats.
In
future,
there
might
be
a
possibility.
We
are
quite
democratic
like
that
but
we
have
do
justice
to
the
part.”