‘Girls Will Be Girls’ review: A beautifully observed coming of age story

Writer-director Shuchi Talati’s debut feature is a simmering and sexually tense coming of age drama. Set in a boarding school, the story is centred around Mira, a school topper, head prefect and teacher’s pet. She’s driven to excel and considers herself the model student, upholder of school rules and moral gatekeeper.

So, it’s confusing for the obedient and righteous Mira to be faced with challenges outside of the curriculum and to realise that book-learned knowledge might be no match against street smarts, life experience and generational patriarchal conditioning.

Not the most popular girl among her peers, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) is focused on academic excellence. The usually aloof Mira finds herself increasingly distracted by her feelings towards Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiran), the enigmatic new boy in school.

Mira’s mother Anila (Kani Kusruti) notices her daughter’s untamed feelings towards Sri, leading to decisions that rattle the equation between mother and daughter. These are juxtaposed with Anila’s loneliness and unconventional choices.

Sri and Anila’s interactions, seen from Mira’s point of view, triangulate to produce complicated situations. A baseline prickliness escalates to public outbursts raging with disgust.

Preeti Panigrahi is terrific as Mira, haughty at school, vulnerable with Sri and deeply affecting when she is depicting feelings of young love, sexual awakening and...

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