The Girlfriend review: Rashmika Mandanna elevates the film with grace and vulnerability

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Take into account, most importantly, the duality with which she is made to navigate her life. On the first day of her M.A. Literature studies, she announces coyly, to her professor that she wants to be a novelist one day. She wants to relay magic to others the way she felt while reading books growing up, she says, feeling mildly insecure about not knowing authors like Marquez or Hemingway. Yet, a defiance shows through fleetingly. At the same time, certain forces lurk around her that constantly put her in a place of discomfort, from where her suppressed fierceness couldn’t surface at all. Not a day goes by in her life that her father (Rao Ramesh) doesn’t remind her that he has had to sacrifice a lot to raise her as a single parent; there’s a great chance that if he forgets to do so, she will reiterate to herself without fail. Her boyfriend in college, Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty), is another kind of in-charge of her psyche, but seemingly cut from a similar cloth. The first time they meet, he tells her in his self-styled alpha way that he can “have her”, if he were to choose to do so. A few months later, he announces to the entire college that he kissed her in his hostel room. He decides if she can pay for herself at a mall, when she must meet his mother as part of their future marriage plans, and even has a say about the costume she wears in a college play she fares very well in. In turn, she gets to be his ‘mother’, the emblematic caring figure that boys like him are wired to fall in love with, who shall do his laundry, clean up after him and so on.

It is fascinating to note that The Girlfriend represents an India that is predominant as part of our discourses today, yet whose idea of love and ambition is skimmed over at best. Rather, it represents an India where getting to choose their life partner is still seen as the pinnacle of a “modern” woman’s sovereignty. The film is set in a time and place where self-worth, as a concept, is still remote, and the women, in particular, approach it with a heavy sense of self-reproach and futility. It shows in the way Bhooma is never able to voice her dreams to Vikram, who feels superior to the men of the previous generation only because he wouldn’t physically harm his partner. It shows in the way she feels a shiver of disgust and discomfort every time he lays his “manly” hands on her, caresses her without any idea of consent, and reinforces again and again that he, after all, is both her lover and protector. It also shows in the way she comes mighty close multiple times to tell him what she truly feels about him, but almost always backs out to save feelings.

The Girlfriend isn’t visually snazzy, and one gets the feeling that it is intentional in its design, even when it veers towards being overemotional. Instead, it allows its protagonist to guide us through the myriad emotions she endures concurrently, and it is in this inspired portrayal that Rashmika Mandanna reveals her own evolution as an actor. Her Bhooma is a spectator of her own life’s proceedings, and the dichotomy of her existence constantly oscillates in her eyes; Mandanna doesn’t overstate much when the writing is asking her to, and the charm lies in that restraint with which Bhooma is etched.

Dheekshith Shetty, in the same vein, is able to suffuse his Vikram with a personality and make him immature, entitled and real at the same time. Vikram, the way he is imagined, also runs the risk of being one-toned in that he sounds throughout the film as though he is trying very hard to communicate to us about the kind of guy he is. His insecurities, his rage and his emotional range, in general, are on the nose, no doubt, but the stuntedness of his character feels measured on the part of Rahul Ravindran’s writing. Anu Emanuel, in the role of the urban, on-trend Durga, is an interesting device to explore the core of the story. But the character is positioned for a defined purpose, which inhibits her from being more complex and realistic.

In fact, the handling of Durga further emphasises the slightly lacklustre world-building of The Girlfriend. Certain parts of the film feel a bit too literal for their own good: for instance, the walls closing in on Bhooma could have remained a subtle part of the subtext, as could the consequences of her interaction with Vikram’s mother. There is also a dearth of natural rhythm and cadence in the way the dialogues are written and spoken, as well as in the way the rest of the cast and the many bit players contribute to the authenticity of the storytelling. On the one hand, it is apparent that the film wants to isolate Bhooma from her own setting so that it all feels apathetic and predatory to her. Yet, it would have benefited all the more featuring characters that are small in length, but also highly recognisable.

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The Girlfriend is still an engaging watch because of its thematic richness. Rahul Ravindran is well aware of the point he is making, and it helps that he has the right clarity with which he wants to tell his story. He stays as close as possible to Bhooma without encroaching her space, meaning that he lets her decisions lead to an outcome she accepts wholeheartedly. Certain choices of the writer-director are tidy and formulaic, but they nevertheless support a story that pivots from the ordinary, and is resonant in many different ways. Watch this for Rashmika Mandanna’s heartfelt performance, if nothing else.

The Girlfriend movie cast: Rashmika Mandanna, Anu Emmanuel, Rohini, Dheekshith Shetty, Rao Ramesh
The Girlfriend movie director: Rahul Ravindran
The Girlfriend movie rating: 3.5 stars