Imagine a young girl in Baroda, Gujarat, who dreams of becoming a doctor, walking in the footsteps of her parents and relatives. She studies hard, follows the rules and never questions her destiny. Until one day, she picks up a book and falls in love with literature. She realises there is more to life than just grades. She wants to tell stories. She goes to college at St. Xavier’s in Bombay and as destiny would have it, meets an English professor who shares her passion for film. He introduces her to the wonders of cinema, from Hollywood classics to foreign masterpieces. She spends hours in video rental stores, discovering new directors and genres. She develops her own cinematic taste and style. She chooses to become a filmmaker, not a doctor.
This is the story of Shuchi Talati, the director of Girls will be Girls, an Indo- French production of courage, curiosity and creativity, born out of a dream and chance. It is the story of how one girl defies expectations and pur- sues her true calling. It is the story of how she made her debut film, a stunning exploration of female identity and sexuality in India. The film that is making its premiere at Sundance this month.
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 Shuchi’s own experiences as a teenager in the 90s, when she attended a school where, ‘we were not really allowed to date or hold hands or even talk too much’. She also remembers how the liberalisation of the economy and media brought about a cultural shift, where young girls started to wear ‘jeans and shorts and miniskirts’ as a way of expressing themselves and defying the norms. ‘It was tied to rebellion. There were always aunties who would say “your skirt was too short” or like, ‘why are you wearing jeans? You look so nice when you wear Indian.’
Shuchi wanted to write a story that reflected this period of change and challenge, as well as her own interest in writing about female sexuality, in a non-judgmental and realistic way. ‘I really became interested in writing about female sexuality in a way that is not coy—in a way that when women are sexual, the storytellers don’t punish them.’ She wanted to show the sexual awakening of a young girl as ‘very normal’ and not something to be ashamed of or punished for. She also wanted to capture the spirit of rebellion and expression that characterised her generation of girls who grew up in the 90s and ‘had a new way to express’.
‘I want the audience to really experience the film... I wanted to leave a residue and to have a feeling that they might have seen; the kinds of complex, interesting and subversive women that they might know in life, but sometimes don’t make it onto our screens,’ establishing her deepest desire to create a film that is not driven by only a singular narrative, but by a deep immersion in the lives of her characters, Mira and her mother, Anila and to feel the impact of the little things that happen in their lives.
Shuchi also chose to portray women who are unashamed about their desire, revel in its complexity and support each other, well aware of the far reaching implications and impact it may have. ‘I think there is something political obviously about showing sexuality and talking about desire... both for this teenage girl and her mother but I want it to be normal’. She hopes that the audience will leave with a lasting impression and a fragrance from her film.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 16.01.2024
