The Girlfriend is about relationship between a boy and a girl; love and possessiveness; jealousy and control; about choices and self worth- an important film that could have been handled with more finesse, writes Rajeshwari Kalyanam
In her book ‘A Room of One’s Own’ feminist Writer Virginia Woolf famously writes about how important it is for a woman to have financial independence and a room of her own to be able to write. It is a commentary on how women lose control of their lives, bow down to societal and family pressures and how that designs their lives and moves them away from their own skills and choices.
In the movie ‘The Girlfriend’ Rahul Ravindran – The director of the film, who also plays the professor of literature tells his student to read and write on this book, which he insists a young girl like her must read. That more or less sets the context for the film.
The Girlfriend is about a relationship between a young, studious, minding her own business kind of a girl Bhuma and an over confident, popular boy of the college, who is dominating to say the least, Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty).
This affair that starts one night when Vikram kisses Bhumi (Rashmika Mandanna) and she ends up spending the night with him becomes the talk of the college even as she tries to make sense of what’s happening. Vikram, the doting ever attentive boyfriend, takes over her life and soon she ends up doing everything for him. Even though she knows something is wrong with them, she is unable to pinpoint what it is. It is Durga (Anu Emmanuel), who helps her through this journey of self discovery and to know right from wrong.
The screenplay in the first half tries to highlight how Bhuma and Vikram’s relationship grows, and the second half is about what it turns out to be and how Bhuma learns to deal with it before it reaches towards an impactful climax – neither too dramatic nor too subtle – it is this climax that is the defining point of the film.
The Girlfriend leaves you with mixed feelings. Like Bhuma we end up loving the film, especially the end when Rashmika out does herself, while on the other hand there are some gaps that trouble us as lovers of good cinema.
The Girlfriend- Plus & Minus
There is a major take away from it all and even as a watch the film is engaging with Hesham’s music and terrific background score by Prashanth R Vihari keeping you hooked to the narrative. The performances by Deekshith and others, most of the actors despite being first timers, is a plus for the film. The film that could have been in the league of ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ falters on the direction front. Some of the scenes could have been executed with more finesse. The heart of the director is in the right place- there’s sensibility towards gender, but the first half could have used some tight writing, and a few characters in the second half like Bhuma’s father played by Rao Ramesh and Vikram’s mother played by Rohini – had the scope to be more well defined. After all, they have a major influence on the central character.
That said – as they say – All is Well That Ends Well’. The climax is what you leave with, and carry back home. Rashmika is terrific and shows restrain in executing the scene that could have easily been dramatic – instead it is powerful and inspiring.
The Girlfriend Review
The Girlfriend is a good watch and a bold attempt to tell a love story from a woman’s perspective knowing fully well that commercially such films have always had a rough history at box office. Kudos Rahul Ravindran and producers Mogilineni Entertainment and Geetha Arts.
Rating
2.5 / 5
