Girls Will Be Girls director Shuchi Talati says the film doesn’t shame sexual awakening

Girls Will Be Girls stars (centre) Kani Kusruti and (right) Preeti Panigrahi

Why is that skirt so short? Why are you bending over the desk like that? Who is calling you so many times? Shuchi Talati remembers these questions being thrown at her constantly during her teenage years. Those years of being questioned and her defiance have led to her maiden feature film, Girls Will Be Girls. "I started to make this film from a place of anger and rebellion. As teenagers, [girls] are subjected to constant policing and surveillance, which instills in them a deep shame about desire or sexuality. I wanted to tell a story about a young girl's first romance, her sexual awakening, but treat it as a normal part of growing up. I wanted to do it in a way where the storytelling doesn't shame it at all," starts the director.

(From left) Producer Richa Chadha with Shuchi Talati

Girls Will Be Girls - which won two awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival - tells the story of 16-year-old Meera, essayed by Preeti Panigrahi, and her complex relationship with her mother, played by Kani Kusruti. Their friction only increases when the daughter's boyfriend starts showering attention on the mother. Talati reveals that the mother's track came to her much later. She recalls, "The character of the mother appeared in a later draft. It was so rich because I was closer in age to the mom. I felt, ‘This woman is in her late 30s. Why should she not have desire? Why should she not have fun?' This boy is giving her attention. Nobody else in her life did that. So, I started feeling a lot of empathy for her. The film became about the two generations of women, who are trying to break out of the box that society [imposes] on them. They are trying to subvert, circumvent, and somehow live their life with more freedom."

She adds, "Their friction is key to our story [because initially] Meera looks down on her mother, who stays at home and seems unfulfilled. Through the film, she grows up to see her mother as a full person. That kinship comes to them eventually."

To Talati, the movie is of much emotional value, not only because it is her first feature film, but also because it comes from a personal space. However, she points out that it is not autobiographical in nature, as she says, "With first-time women filmmakers, people assume that they're writing about their life. This film is deeply personal. Not because any of these things happened to me, but because I felt all of these things. For instance, Meera gets worried that her boyfriend is getting close to her mother. I have felt [a similar] insecurity when my boyfriend was talking to some girl who seemed older, cooler and more interesting. I have felt [that pang of sadness] that the mother feels when she sees that someone is going to have so many more opportunities than her."

Filmmaking is a career that happened by chance to the Baroda-born writer-director, who was almost on her way to become a doctor. But a conversation with a friend made her realise that her calling is in the arts. It is in journalism school that she met classmate Richa Chadha, who, years later, along with actor-husband Ali Fazal, backed Girls Will Be Girls as their maiden production. "Richa was the first person to come on board. I was pitching it at Film Bazaar at the co-production market. I called Richa as she is the only person I knew in the industry. She read the script and loved it. She said, ‘I wanted to produce for a long time. What could be better than backing one of my oldest friends' scripts that I love!'"

In the past few weeks, All We Imagine as Light director Payal Kapadia has shed light on the challenges of indie filmmakers in India. Talati chooses to be optimistic as she gears up for her movie's 2025 release. "Hopefully, people will hire me to do other films. I am hoping to write something new. The thing is people misunderstand nuance. People think that a nuanced, quiet film means it's slow and boring. But since we all observe humans all our lives, we understand nuance. So even though this film is nuanced, it's extremely accessible," she states.