Special: “Want Pushpa 2 to see the audience girls will be girls,” says director Shuchi Talati

Shuchi Talati’s feature directorial debut girls will be girls received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. The film, which won two awards at the prestigious 2024 Sundance Film Festival, opens up conversations about female desire, a teenager’s sexual awakening, female sexuality, gender politics and more.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Shuchi Talati talks about the reception the film has received. Pushpa 2 Tsunami, his thoughts on filmmaking, and how the film’s title, intentionally, is a “cheeky nod” to the well-known adage, “men will be men”.

girls will be girls Now streaming on Amazon Prime. When he was asked whether his film would attract the audience who are flocking to watch Allu Arjun’s film Pushpa 2A certain ‘alpha male’ people are full of masculinity, Shuichi told NDTV “I don’t know. I want them to come and see girls will be girlsThis is a very accessible, entertaining film. The distinction we make between commercial and parallel, art house or independent (whatever we may call it), is the very distinction that makes the industry.”

“Maybe the audience minimizes this gap… These films co-exist with other films and series from around the world on OTT platforms. I think, today’s audience is becoming increasingly media-literate. They are able to watch a wide variety of movies on OTT. girls will be girls Subtle, calm, intelligent. It doesn’t waste anything for the audience. Yet it is an emotional, visceral experience,” says Shuichi.

Sharing her strong belief in her labor of love, Shuichi adds, “People are experts in human behavior. You don’t need to spoon-feed them. One look at mom, tea is not being served – reference to the audience They get what they have seen and felt in their lives.”

When asked how Shuichi conceived the title girls will be girlsShe revealed what was behind this catchy phrase.

Shuichi says, “When we say boys will be boys or men will be men, we’re asking them to forgive their bad behavior toward girls or women. Sure, the title is a cheeky hint at this. But my It has other meanings also.” ,

She adds, ‘There are two girls in the film – the mother is also a girl because she did not get a chance to live her youth.’

“There’s also a sense of sadness in the title. Meera (played by newcomer Preeti Panigrahi) is initially placed in a position of power. She becomes the first girl to become head prefect of the school. Apparently, she must have something Power.

“But you see how fragile she is. Any wrong move – she is attacked from all sides and pulled down. Headline girls will be girls It is also relevant because we currently live in a world where women are not given the same freedom as men,” argues Shuichi.

girls will be girls It revolves around the subtle, inexplicable tension between a mother-daughter duo, played brilliantly by Kani Kushruti and Preeti Panigrahi respectively.

When we asked her about the film’s central idea, Shuichi explained how she wanted to “normalize” growing up as a woman who was once shamed.

“I started with the character of a topper, a nice girl. I wanted to give her the freedom to find her first romance, have her first desires, have agencies, have a sexual awakening, and think of all this as normal. Shuichi says, “When we were growing up, we felt ashamed of all these things: what we were wearing, who we were talking to, who was calling, whether a boy was waiting for us or not.”

Shuichi says, “It creates embarrassment about something, which is a normal part of growing up. It’s ugly and sad that in those days we were slut-shamed. I see this nice girl character as normal part of growing up.” “

“Second, our mothers’ generation has fought battles more often, and this has given the daughters’ generation more freedom. Here, the mother is trying to parent her daughter differently than the way she raised her She tells her daughter that she doesn’t need to hide her friendship with a boy, and she also feels a sense of longing, loss, and sadness because she didn’t get a chance to live this youth. it’s proud There’s a complex mix, jealousy, sadness and everything in between,” Shuichi hints.

girls will be girls Produced by Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne, Shuchi Talati. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, competing in the competition section of the festival in January 2024.