Girls Will Be Girls, helmed by Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal's production house has recently released on an OTT platform. Filmfare chatted with the movie's star cast, which includes Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron, along with Richa and Ali to understand certain scenes, the characters and delve deeper into the mother-daughter relationship that blossomed on screen. While Kani opened up about her mindset during approaching the tricky scenes, Preeti and Kesav discussed the intimate shots, tough school sequences and more. Excerpts…
Richa and Ali, why did you decide to back this project?
Richa Chadha: Well, we produced it together.
Ali Fazal: Jointly because we're married and in love, amongst other things. Were we married when we decided to produce together? I don't remember.
Richa: Ali’s dates are messed up, but I'm very happy that this is the first thing that is coming out of our studio because we really believe in it. It's going to win a lot of hearts and is definitely going to be a memorable film.
What kind of conversations did you have with the director, Shuchi Talati, before coming on board?
Richa: Shuchi (Talati) and I have been talking about this script for a long time. We would go for walks in New York, Mumbai and Goa. We went for a long drive and submitted the film for the first time to the film bazaar, where it found co-producers. We would just talk about how difficult the teenage years can be. And only in retrospect, you understand that at that time, everything seemed like life and death. A boy not talking to you seemed like your life was over. Coming second in class seemed like life was over. When we had a pimple, we thought no one would speak to us. These things felt really exaggerated in our heads.
Go on…
Richa: This film touches upon a lot of those things. It touches upon a very tender spot between a mother and a daughter's dual coming of age. They come to understand each other, their loneliness and their desires. It’s a beautiful film.
Coming to the mother and daughter relationship portrayed by Kani Kusruti and Preeti Panigrahi. What kind of discussions did you two have with each other or Shuchi before approaching those scenes?
Kani Kusruti: We didn’t have much discussions because we wanted to keep the scenes instinctive. I personally wouldn't want to discuss it with my co-actor, unless my co-actor really insists on it. Sometimes it takes away the surprise I may get or a moment of honesty and truthfulness that can emerge from the scene. It’s better when you don’t discuss and you’re just being those characters and reacting that way. I would ideally not want to discuss it with my co-actor. If it’s an action scene or an intimate one, then I would want to practice, so that I don’t end up hurting my co-star in any way. It’s better to have choreographed scenes that's required for the story if that’s the case. We had a director who would give us the clarity for our characters.
Preeti Panigrahi: I agree. It’s good to enter a scene without knowing where it's going to end. I think acting is a lot of interpretation. It's a lot of listening and that space was always there. We had the script to go by. There was a space right before entering into a scene and shooting it. We would all just come together and talk about it. We would discuss questions like why would this character behave this way? But mostly the questions pertained to our own characters. One fun thing that Shuchi used to do on set is before getting on with the scene, she would personally come up to us if we have a group scene that's going on. She would individually give us an intention. I don't know what Kani has been told and she does not know what I have been told. Keshav (Binoy Kiron) does not know what we have been told. Nobody used to be aware of what’s happening. Once we have blocked the scene and there's an action, it's kind of a play. Now I'm getting into the scene and trying to figure out what is going on in my mother's head. My mother is also trying to figure out why I am behaving a certain way. So, it becomes fun and Instinctive.
Kani, how did you play with both the aspects in your character, of being a conventional mother and living out your teenage fantasies?
Kani: Anila wanted to relive. Anila was observing that many things that Meera's character was getting weren't during her time. She wanted to be a good mother but she was struggling and failing. She also liked a bit of attention, which she didn’t get from her husband. I slowly tried to grasp her nuances because Anila and Kani are very different. The character is sensitive to certain things that I’m not in real life. Fortunately, the two directors I have worked with recently, Payal Kapadia and Shuchi Talati, gave me time and helped me understand the characters in my own way. Sometimes you end up discovering a character on the 10th or 15th day. At times, I realize a character’s nuances really late. But during Girls Will Be Girls, the preparation time helped me understand my character well.
Why is the movie set in the ‘90s? Why exactly was that time frame chosen?
Richa: I think that is because we are 90s kids. We were growing up around that time. There were no mobile phones till you were in standard 12. Even then, the first mobile phones were really costly. This is the time when people had landlines. So, the whole language of love in this film is, we'll cut off after one missed call and charge the cordless, so that we can talk at night. Those aspects were important to the director.
How did you pinpoint on naming the movie Girls Will Be Girls?
Richa: We were not choosing names. Shuchi had this in her mind.
Ali: But I do remember that conversation we had. I think she was in New York while thinking of titles.
Were there other titles?
Ali: There was another one. She had a couple of them, actually.
Preeti: One of them was My School Pledge. Another one was As A Student Of My School.
Ali: I remember her telling me that this (Girls Will Be Girls) rings well in her ears. It sounds nice There's a certain defiance in this title.
Richa: There's a rebellion and zid in this title. If boys will be boys, so girls will be girls.
Preeti, the scenes after the school pledge scene on Teacher’s Day were hard hitting. Was it taxing to play the scenes where you were being bullied? Do you take these challenging moments back home?
Preeti: Interesting. I think the scene was shot over a couple of days. It wasn’t shot chronologically. When I read the script, I knew it's going to be a taxing scene. It was taxing in different ways. One particular segment of it was physically taxing. To orchestrate or to choreograph the whole scene in a sari was taxing. Running around in the sari was taxing. Also, the point was that I was emotionally scared. I think getting bullied in school is a very common experience. Or, as a woman, always having this narrative play in your head that things can go wrong any time. When you step out in a public space or step into a private space, you always have the worst in your mind. I could definitely rely on my own experiences for drawing any emotionality to it. Before entering the scene, Kani and I did an improv as well. But also, I think there was a point where we were shooting and fun things were happening on set. But I was a bit sick that day. I was also missing my mother. So, when I had entered the scene, feeling like I've been chased and I sat down, I started crying. I cried because I was sick and my mom was not there. But I was manipulating my situation in my head. I used my emotions to put a certain energy into the scene. It worked. Sometimes, acting happens in weird ways.
The intimate scenes didn’t feel out of place.
Preeti: They were approached honestly and transparently. We were asked how independent we are to take this decision. Our consent was always included. And in the set, it was a closed set.There were women on the sets mostly. Every time we were approaching an intimate scene, it did not feel intimidating. At one point, we were very comfortable in the scenes. When you have a lot of women on set, it's a fun experience. We were exchanging notes. We were sharing our experiences. It was a fun space to be in.
Kesav: The conversations really helped. We focused on the emotions in the scenes. We approached the intimate scenes like any other scene. Being the youngest on sets, we had a great equation. We shared comfort. Shuchi ma’am also gave us the freedom to not do certain scenes if we weren’t comfortable. We were also allowed to see the monitor for these scenes. These were the only scenes we were allowed to. We knew exactly what was being shot.
We heard actual school kids participated during the filming of the school scenes…
Richa: We shot the movie in two schools, one in Dehradun and the other in Mussoorie. Most of the kids you see in the assembly scenes are actual junior school kids. Some teachers from these schools have also done cameos, which was very cute.The students that have speaking parts were auditioned and cast. The dynamics were important. Mira’s friend was played by Kajol Chugh, who was chosen after an audition.
Watch the full interview here:
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