Girls Will Be Girls

When Mira Kishore (Preeti Panigrahi) is named Head Prefect at her boarding school set in the Indian Himalayas, she is quite comfortable enforcing its strict rules, immediately sending one girl to change her socks and even admonishing her friend and roommate Priya (Kajol Chugh) for wearing nail polish. But when Srinivas (Kesav Binoy Kiron) approaches her to hang a flyer for his Astronomy Club , after telling him he may appeal if he wants it to hang for more than its allotted one week, she acquiesces to his suggestion that he help her hang it, then is the lone female to show up for his first meeting in “Girls Will Be Girls.”
Laura's Review: B
Winner of the World Cinema Audience Award and World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award Acting Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Shuchi Talati's feature debut is a coming of age tale for a daughter whose mother’s lack of one interferes with her own. Sixteen year-old Mira’s sexual awakening may cause her to break some of the rules she is supposed to be upholding, but it also opens her eyes to the injustices of a patriarchal society. Young Panigrahi shoulders the film with confidence, expressing many complex emotions nonverbally.
The first inkling of discord between Mira and her mother occurs when Anila (Kani Kusruti), proud of her daughter’s accomplishment, enters the school with a box of homemade cookies. Mira tells mom she’s not allowed inside the school until Anila reminds her that as an alumnus, she is. After Mira stays late with Sri after his astrology meeting, turning down a kiss but giving him a peck and her phone number, Anila demands to know who she heard her talking to later that night, eventually engineering a visit from Sri for a going-over of the boy Mira insists is just a friend. The worldlier son of a diplomat charms and, looking for more of a sense of home, is soon spending a lot of time with Mira and Anila, who is only there to support her daughter’s schooling, Anila’s husband Harish (Jitin Gulati) only visiting occasionally.
Back at school, Ms. Bansal (Devika Shahani) humiliates Priya by making her stand on a chair next to Mira to illustrate what a boy can see if Priya climbs the stairs in her above-the-knee skirt, but when Mira reports Hardik (Akash Pramanik), Vikrant (Aman Desai) and Pratik (Sumit Sharma) for taking pictures up girls’ skirts, Bansal tells her to ignore them, relenting when Mira continues to push the issue, saying she’ll relay it to the principal. This action will have multiple consequences during the film’s climax, including a moving reconciliation.
But it is Mira’s sexual experimentation and openness with Sri which is at the heart of the film, something confounded by her mom’s apparent need to get in on the act, cutting in during a dance to teach a move and even inviting Sri to rest on her bed where his discovery that her reading material is a bodice ripping romance novel leads to a flirtatious mock fight.
If there is a weakness here it is Talati’s failure to fully define Anila’s motivations, her frustrations and own young womanhood merely hinted at (and portrayed as being as subversive for their culture as her daughter’s). But Mira’s recognition of Sri’s ability to get what he wants through charm that isn’t always truthful makes her years wiser and is the moment when she truly steps into adulthood.
One does not usually anticipate movies like “Girls Will Be Girls” coming from India, nor do we usually see this part of the country, with its majestic scenery and architecturally interesting interiors, in its exported cinema. The unusual setting makes Talati’s mother/daughter take on a familiar tale all the more subversive.
Robin's Review: B
In a exclusive boarding school in the foothills of the Himalayas, young Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is at the top of her class and voted head prefect. She takes her role seriously, until she meets handsome new student Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), much to the chagrin, at first, of her mom (Kani Kusruti), in “Girls Will Be Girls.”
Tyro writer-director Shuchi Talati tells an original story that is definitely Indian in setting but has a lot of western sensibility, particularly to the intelligence and strength of our 16-year old protagonist, Mira.
The newly minted prefect immerses herself in her role, keeping the student body, especially the rowdy boys, in line. Along the way, she reports some of the boys for lewd behavior, taking pics up girls’ skirts, and demanding suspension. (This, by the way, reminded me of the crimes against young woman in India, rape and murder, putting an edgy tone on Mira’s school life.)
The story, though, is about Mira’s relationship with her mom, Anila, who envies her daughter’s youth and opportunity, deprived to her growing up. When Sri enters Mira’s life, mom does not like it, thinking that he will distract her from her scholarly ambitions. (He does.) Slowly, though, the handsome young man charms Anila and a seeming competition begins between daughter and mom.
First timer Talati shows a firm hand in directing her central trio but the dynamics of the school and its students also play out. The title spin on the old phrase “boys will be boys” really works with its femme-center characters and Mira’s really nice boyfriend.
I want Mira to be a success as the character grows and develops, becoming a better person in the process. The mom-daughter story also slowly evolves into a story of two women, also friends. Helmer-scribe Talati does a solid job first time out and I look forward to her next effort.
Juno films releases “Girls Will Be Girls” in select theaters on 9/13/24, expanding in subsequent weeks. Click here for play dates.