Big Girls Don’t Cry, created and co-directed by Nitya Mehra, does many things right in creating an audio-visual landscape. It features a stunning soundtrack, with the title song composed by Amit Trivedi, setting the right mood for what is to follow. The opening credits showcase all the characters in a dreamy, magical set of images as they flourish among flowers and deep blue skies. The innovative aesthetics extend to the editing style, where two scenarios are intercut to create a larger meaning. For instance, a basketball match becomes a point of emotional release for the love which Ludo (Avantika Vandanapu) feels for her teammate. As she scores on the court, their feelings intensify in the dressing room.
However, after a point, this is just not enough to keep it going. The pace becomes exhausting as it is not coupled with a strong sense of involvement with the characters. The plot ends up creating scenarios which makes the characters go through things which don’t feel as authentic. So, what began with the promise of a tender, visual spectacle shreds into degrees of monotony.
There are multiple threads in the story, but it fails to create any emotional value through its scenes. Kavya Yadav (Vidhushi) is newly admitted to Vandana Valley Boarding school and takes her time to soak in the environment which feels alien to her coming from a small town and having a scholarship. She wants to be friends with a gang of girls consisting of the over-achiever Noor (Afrah Sayed), the always bubbly Roohi (Aneet Padda), the princess of Nepal JC (Lhakyila), the fantasy queen Pluggy (Dalai) and basketball captain Ludo. They are all known for their misadventures on the premises and initially try to sideline Kavya as she tries to evoke friendship.
All of this happens in the first episode, which introduces all the major characters and their conflicts quite beautifully. It is through the second episode that the scenes start to lose their spirit. Kavya is invited to the gang’s outing at Roohi’s house, whose parents start fighting the minute everyone enters. The way this unfolds feels instantly inorganic as everything happens to our faces without any sign of leaving things to subtlety. Later, as Roohi has a storming argument with her mother, she comes out to be more mature than her age. It becomes difficult to fathom that a teenager would speak that way to the mother and get away with it.
The show suffers from this issue throughout when it appears to stuff things in the minds of its characters. They start acting like adults and even out of character at times. Kavya, who is visibly silent for the first two episodes, suddenly starts to speak confidently in English, while her development till then points to something completely different. It is meant to show as a transition in her personality, but that doesn’t quite come about as intended.
Further, there are embarrassing instances when people look down upon her for being someone with a scholarship and hence undeserving of all the facilities in school. The creators seem to be taking no stance on the stigma that she faces from everyone, including the girls she hangs out with. It only becomes a device to serve the plot, which is called upon in regular instances to take the story ahead.
It is through these instances that the show, which starts with a promise of a delightful adventure, ends up being a misfire. It has problems too many and reliefs too little. The writing feels more tokenistic than believable when the kids randomly make remarks about fascism owing to the authoritative behaviour of their principal, Anita Verma (Pooja Bhatt). Or when another rebellious girl, Dia (Akshita Sood), speaks of feminism and patriarchy in the middle of drama practice, inviting claps from everyone in the room, much to our continued discontentment.
It seems that all of these issues are forced into the story on face value rather than the story creating thoughtful scenarios to necessitate them. Along with that, the episodes stretch unnecessarily when there aren’t enough emotional beats to keep them going. The forty-five-minute episode mark could have easily been brought down to thirty and the show would have fared better than it has now.
In the middle of such major inconsistencies, Big Girls Don’t Cry is backed by some powerful and engaging performances. All the girls do a decent job bringing their virtues and inhibitions to the front. Particularly, Aneet Padda and Afrah Sayed manage to dive deeper into the psyche of the characters they play and maintain an even balance throughout. It is a treat to see Aneet during a scene at a movie theatre where she interacts with a boy in a moment of innocence. Pooja Bhatt does best in her limited role which is also fairly straightforward.
Big Girls Don’t Cry needed a better plot and nuanced telling by staying true to the journeys of its characters. Right now, it remains a bit difficult to sit through despite all the beauty splattered on the frames. As it turns out, all that glitters isn’t gold after all.
Created by: Nitya Mehra
Directed By: Nitya Mehra, Sudhanshu Saria, Karan Kapadia and Kopal Naithani
Starring: Avantika Vandanapu, Aneet Padda, Akshita Sood, Dalai, Vidhushi, Tenzin Lhakyila, Afrah Sayeed, Pooja Bhatt, Zoya Hussain, Mukul Chadda and Raima Sen
Rating: 2/5 stars