There’s a lot going on within twelfth-grader Mira (Preeti Panigrahi). Chosen as the first female head prefect at her seemingly orthodox hill-station boarding school, she’s battling most of the pressures and anxieties of being a teenager, while simmering in the shadow of her vivacious mother Anila (Kani Kusruthi). Mira needs to keep her scores up, balance the shifted power dynamic with friends and bullies because of her duties as a head prefect, and rein in her excessively eager hormones for the mysterious new boy – Srinivas (Kesav Binoy Kiron) – in class.

Every viewing of Shuchi Talati’s excellent Girls will be Girls, produced by Richa Chadha, will probably elicit a different response. The coming-of-age film focused on a mother and daughter is tender, moving and nuanced. The period story is set around a boarding school where rules and regulations reign supreme. But through them, these women break free, to live a little.

Girls Will Be Girls is helmed by first time feature film director Suchi Talati. It follows the story of a high school top student in a coming of age story. But the story isn’t just about Mira played by Preeti Panigrahi but also about her mom Anila played by Kani Kusruti. Their complex relationship amid Mira’s rebellious romance with NRI boy Sri (Kesav Binoy Kiron), the tense environment in strict school. The film offers a change for millennials to live through some of their most embarrassing and traumatizing memories but also gives a chance to many more in building a better and more nutriting relationship with their mothers.