In a quiet, introspective moment from Ziddi Girls that’s rare to come by, Umang Bhadana’s student Vandana wonders, “Is everyone’s first year as eventful as ours?” By this point in the fast-moving Prime Video show, we sympathise with her position.
Over eight busy episodes, students of Matilda House, a fictional women’s college in Delhi, navigate the violation of consent, radicalisation on the campus, systemic biases and suppression of free speech. Boy problems are thankfully stowed away, for these women don’t need any more issues to deal with. But when is busy too busy?
The Hindi series follows five Matilda House freshers. Trisha (Atiya Tara Nayak) is a rich hockey player counting down the days before she can join her boyfriend in Boston. Vandana, a theatre geek, is providing for her family.
Instagram pries open Tabby (Zaina Ali), a small-town influencer with self-esteem issues. When chemistry student Devika (Anupriya Caroli) is not improving her English skills, she’s scrambling for funds. And the wheelchair-bound Wallika (Deeya Damini) loves to drown her sorrows in rock music.
When a sex-ed screening is leaked to salacious television channels, the government college catches Rightwing heat. The liberal principal is sacked and replaced with the disciplinarian Lata (Simran), reminding us of Hope Haddon’s track in Sex Education.
Seasoned actor Revathy makes a special appearance as the endearing laid-off principal Malavika, whose arc is painfully cut short. Professors Handa (Nandita Das), who gets the best lines in the show, and PD (Nandish Singh Sandhu), the overtly unproblematic nice guy, lead the students towards the light.
Directors Shonali Bose, Vasant Nath and Neha Veena Sharma infuse their characters with warmth and stay clear of stereotypes. Wallika initially appears to be a stock character, but she goes through the most convincing coming-of-age experience, largely devoid of contrivances. Unlike Wallika, Devika is the picture of apoliticism, reminding her privileged friends why even anger is sometimes reserved only for the rich.
Ziddi Girls is filled with ample astute observations, and is best when it’s subtle. Take Handa’s description of Lata’s conservatism: “She’s dangerous. If you don’t listen to her properly, you will think she is right.”
Not all characters have the same level of nuance. Some of the dialogue rings false even when the intent is to say all the right things. “Notorious girls are badass fighters,” we’re told. What’s too wrong with the screening of “an erotica from a female gaze by a French filmmaker?”
The ostentatious dialogue often chips away at the message that Ziddi Girls propagates. The heavy-handedness is offset by terrific performances from the younger cast members, who depict the anguish, love and ambition of their generation navigating India’s modern yet divisive society.
The series raises some hard questions and reflects the realities of liberal institutions surviving under the government’s watchful eye. But some of these issues are glossed over by hectic plotting and fast-paced editing.
We learn about a professor’s Kashmiri identity in passing. We also learn about Wallika’s environmental activist father’s battle against corrupt industrialists, and of a terrorising student union. We’re asked to connect the dots, but we wish these scenes were treated with patience, not brevity.
