Movie review 'Girls': All-women mishmash

(U/A) 140 min
Director: Thulasidas
Cast: Iniya, Subkiksha, Arathi, Archana, Nadia Moidu, Eden, Sabitha, Reshma
Rating: 2 stars

Thulasidas is a veteran who has directed around 25 films as well as some long running popular serials. So he is not short on experience but his latest bi-lingual offering, Girls, seems an amateurish attempt by someone in the initial days of his directing career. The film which was marketed as a film with an all — woman cast also evoked curiosity for its lesbian theme. Though the film did stay true to its all-woman cast, the lesbian angle is very awkwardly portrayed towards the last portion of the film. The director seems to be confused about the treatment to be given to the film adding horror, thriller, murder, action and romantic elements to the film and coming out with a story that leaves the audience completely befuddled.

The film travels through the lives of Iniya, Subhiksha, Arathi and Archana who are doing a diploma course in a film institute. They are asked by their professor (Sajitha Madathil in an avoidable role) to come up with a good film for their course and they take off to the cool climes of a hill station to shoot their film. They meet a stranded photographer Rehana on the way, who also joins them. Some song and dance routines later, they return home to discover that Rehana had died long back. Then begins the mystery of finding out who Rehana is. Into the mix comes the Police Commissioner Nadia and a psychologist played by Neena Kurup and the story meanders without reaching anywhere till a contrived climax. The attempt to inject comedy by Arathi and Kovai Sarala fall completely flat. A huge budget of the film would have been allocated for the costumes given the costume change in every scene for all the girls. A question remains —do ghosts who travel through walls and space need a plane to bring its quarry back to avenge a misdeed?