Over-the-top, Yet Delightful!
By Shivom Oza, MovieTalkies.com, 10 May 2013
3 / 5
Gippi - In Brief:
A 14-year-old girl comes of age..almost!
Gippi - Verdict:
The film is delightful in some parts and needlessly over-the-top at some places. Watch it for the charming performances by the kids!
Gippi – Short Plot:
Gippi is about Gippi (real name - Gurpreet Kaur), played by Riya Vij, a 14-year-old overweight, ordinary-looking, clumsy, poor-in-sports, poor-in-studies, unpopular girl, who lives with her divorced mother, Pappi (Divya Dutt), and her adorable brother Booboo (Arbaz Kadwani) in Simla. Gippi's life revolves around her family, friends and her collection of old Hindi film songs. Being a huge fan of Shammi Kapoor, Gippi lets her hair down whenever/wherever his songs start playing.
The only time she starts to get insecure is when she attends school. Having to deal with the constant bullying by the most 'popular' girl in school, Shamira Chauhan (Jayati Modi), and her gang of girls, Gippi goes into a shell and starts thinking of herself as inferior to the other students. Moreover, having to deal with the physical, emotional and social changes that accompany a growing teenage girl; Gippi only gets more cranky and introverted. In order to impress everyone in school, Gippi befriends a much-older high school student, Arjun (Taaha Shah), and tells everyone that he is her boyfriend. But, the truth comes out when Arjun publicly tells Gippi that he always thought of her as a friend.
This gives Shamira and her friends one more reason to belittle their favourite target. The clash reaches such a level that Shamira challenges Gippi to stand against her in the student elections for the position of the head girl. So, the battle lines are drawn. Our much-troubled girl's brother, Booboo, and friends, Anchal and Ashish (Aditya Deshpande), who is terrific as the nerd besotted with Gippi, help her out in marking certain goals (Hot Body, Popularity, Boyfriend and the likes) that would make her win the elections. The film is about how Gippi overcomes the odds at school, in addition to helping her mother cope up with her father's (Pankaj Dheer) second marriage.