Girls will be Girls
Four thought-provoking debut short and feature films, and series that explore societal and personal struggles against deeply ingrained systems.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
Girls will be Girls, an Indo-French production, is a moving exploration of female identity and sexuality in India. The film that made its premiere at Sundance in January this year is backed by Richa Chaddha and Ali Fazal’s creators’ lab, Pushing Buttons Studios. Girls will be Girls, is a coming-of-age story that explores female sexuality and rebellion in a conservative and traditional school setting in India. The film is inspired by the filmmaker, Shuchi Talati’s own experiences as a teenager in the 90s, when she attended a conservative school. She also remembers how the liberalisation of the economy and media brought about a cultural shift. Shuchi wanted to write a story that reflected this period of change and challenge, as well as her interest in writing about female sexuality, in a non-judgmental and realistic way.
Big Girls Don't Cry
BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
The innocence, the questioning, the simplicity and the search for who you are at the cusp of adulthood are some of the emotions that embraced the series Big Girls Don’t Cry. The series celebrates the importance of sisterhood while discovering one’s inner self. Filmmaker Nitya Mehra went to a boarding school herself, ‘I’ve always thought that there is no authentic representation of this age group in cinema, so that was one reason. And secondly, why not make something for girls? Because, again, nobody does that. I remember when we were going out to pitch the show, the first people that I went to, and I won’t take names, were like, but there are no boys. How can we make it? And in my head, not that I said it, but I thought for years we’ve only ever been making male-led films, series or whatever. So, how is it so weird? And it’s not like we don’t have boys, but the show is completely a coming of age from the perspective of girls.’
STOLEN
Stolen is inspired by real events and a desire to explore complex societal issues; a gripping narrative that emerged from a tragic incident in Assam. The story follows the transformation of the protagonist, an exploration of a man thrust out of his comfort zone and forced to confront the harsh realities of the world around him. About the starting point, Karan told us, ‘Stolen is inspired by real events. The story of the Bansal brothers in Stolen is inspired by an incident that took place in 2018 in Assam. Two men were violently attacked and lynched at the hands of an enraged crowd who had mistakenly understood them to be kidnappers, based on falsified videos that tore through communities via WhatsApp. That incident was the first seed of the story and characters.’
IN THE BELLY OF A TIGER
Siddhartha’s film came to him in the form of a news piece that talked about people sending their parents to the forest to get killed by a tiger. All this so that they can claim compensation from the government. The absurdity of the story and the curiosity in his soul took him to this village that opened a pandora’s box. ‘In the village where this film was shot and also where these incidents were first reported, big factories are the only way you can earn money. The jobs in many factories are brutal – they exploit the powerless.’ Similarly in his film, In the Belly of a Tiger, the powerful is the brick factory manager, who exploits villagers, who have no other option than taking on the poorly paid job.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 23.12.2024