Girls Will Be Girls Review: Absurd Teenage Sexual Desires Linked To Motherhood

RATING - ⭐ ⭐ 2/5*

GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS REVIEW MOVIE TALKIES:

You might be well aware of Hollywood's coming-of-age dramas becoming vulgar and sexually explicit back in the '70s. Well, five decades later, Indian cinema's sexual desire for teenagers awakens with Girls Will Be Girls, and by default, that's too late. It's not just late; it's also very absurd as it tries to merge those temporary teenage sexual desires with permanent emotions like "motherhood." That's BULLSHIIT!

The film is about a teenager, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), and her sexual infatuation with one of her high school friends. She is very strict and has been chosen as the monitor and is also the class topper. She meets a Hong Kong-returned guy in her class, Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), and they begin to like each other. As Mira's mother, Anila (Kani Kusruti), suspects her going astray at this age, she invites Sri to their home. Sri makes a false promise to be just friends with Mira and becomes a regular guest at their house. Will these two be able to make love with Anila keeping a strict watch on them? That's the gist of it.

Written by a female, the film provides female perspective on sexual attraction, set against two different ages. One character is the girl, around 16-17, who wants to learn about sex and even wants to experience it physically. That’s logically incorrect since 16 or 17 is too late for that. I remember girls receiving sex education at the age of 12-14 in my school. Here, the girl is 16-17, and the boy is 18-19. That's a significant error. The second character is the mother, who has passed a certain age and has had similar experiences in her youth but wants her daughter to stay away from it. That's yet another blunder in writing.

Some scenes in the film suggest that the mother might be sexually interested in that guy, and the girl is jealous of that. Remember Dustin Hoffman's blockbuster, The Graduate? I was left scratching my head at these pathetic theories throughout. Additionally, there’s a scene where a girl is being rammed by a guy, yet she is strict about her girlfriends being involved with their partners. It’s like throwing stones at someone’s house when your own house is made of glass. After all that nonsense, we have to witness motherhood being impacted or improved by the girl’s sexual life. That's the height of stupidity.

There are many scenes in the film that make you uncomfortable. For instance, Sri, in order to appear cool, shares a secret that he has seen his mother naked. Holy cow! The girl despises her mother for reasons unknown and then hugs her at the end because she believed in her and felt guilty for breaking her trust as well as her own sexual dignity. Things just don’t align at all. How was this even approved on paper? I wonder.

Preeti Panigrahi looks breathtaking. She is a perfect school-time hot chick, and her expressions are top-notch. I didn't like that moaning and longing stuff where she failed, but it's okay as long as you are interested in watching her face rather than exposing body parts. Kesav Binoy Kiron looked mature, but he should have been more handsome to be loved by such a beautiful girl. Both struggle with voice modulation, so they sound terrible. Kani Kusruti is presented as a modern mother, which will be accepted by some and disliked by others. The supporting cast includes another sexy-looking girl and typical schoolboys, and they were good in those small roles.

Girls Will Be Girls lacks finesse, as the cinematography, sound design, editing, design, and even production value fall flat. Shuchi Talati's vision is too narrow and highly inclined towards stimulating topics rather than artistic or realistic cinema. The film suffers from motive and fails to make a valid point as a whole. In addition, it makes you pity its vulgar content and conversations that aren't suitable for the Indian audience and definitely not for the coming-of-age genre. If you want to witness true coming-of-age cinema with love stories or sexual queries, then I'd recommend classics like Shala and Balak Palak. Girls Will Be Girls brings shame and nothing else to our beautiful school memories and parental bonding.