Before moving on to the review, I would like to share my views on the three stages of a child's growth i.e., before the age of 12, in the teen years and later in the college post 16-17, as shown in our Hindi Cinema since the early era. Now a quite surprising yet interesting observation in this context is that where we can easily find many movies made around the first and third stages of this growth process, there we don't find enough attempted on the second one in Hindi cinema, which happens to be the most crucial stage depicting the adolescence years of a growing kid.
Personally I feel, Raj Kapoor's MERA NAAM JOKER (1970) touched this particular subject, in the most sensitive & meaningful way ever till date (in its first part) because we still find the issue highly conservative, even in this present age of information quite ironically. Therefore when a first time woman director Sonam Nair, makes a film about these crucial years in the life of a chubby, honest & innocent girl Gurpreet Kaur, then for me, its unarguably a bold & innovative venture coming from our Hindi Cinema after a long time. Plus when further Sonam goes on to showcase many first-time scenes in her film (both visually and verbally) along with a well chosen cast & team, then the project certainly becomes even more important from that angel without any doubts.
For instance, in the past when have you seen young girls talking about their physical developments on the screen in clear words or when there has been a screen mother assisting her daughter in buying her new undergarments, which she now needs for the first time in her young years. On top of all when have we seen an adorable divorced mother, attending her ex-husband's second (love) marriage ceremony along with her grown up daughter & son? Frankly that surely needs to be considered as a healthy sign of meaningful growth in our Hindi cinema undoubtedly and for this both Karan Johar (Producer) and Sonam Nair deserve their own individual praises, for sure.
Incidentally, I did witness some weird restlessness in a certain section of viewers about this verbal & visual depiction of the realistic facts of adolescence on a personal level. So as an answer to that particular section of viewers who still consider it to be on the 'vulgar side', I wish to say that VULGAR is when you enjoy or dance on a song like "Laila Teri Le Legi, Tu Likh Ke Le Le", but it is not VULGAR when a mother is teaching her daughter how to dress differently dealing with her new body changes in the teenage years.
Hence, from that viewpoint, GIPPY is an important film which at least draws your attention towards this extremely important phase in our child's growth, to be dealt with utmost care, patience and love. But at the same time, GIPPY is not a big classic film too, since it tackles (or just touches) all those issues on a very lighter note and remains entertaining throughout, well supported by some good performances and catchy music. In its 97 minutes of short duration, the proceedings never get sloppy and its script keeps providing you the enjoyable, exciting moments right till the climax.
Honestly it's a Girls movie all the way, which is "by the Girls, about the Girls & for the Girls". So, all the women & girls out there are sure going to have a great time watching it together. Further it also takes you on to an emotional tour exploring the mother-daughter relationship in a splendid way, which indeed has been portrayed with great guts, conviction and respect, all together. The loving relationship gets a new meaning through a worth praising performance by Divya Dutta, playing the single mother taking good care of her growing kids and the film becomes a must watch just for her.
The merits of GIPPI also include its catchy soundtrack (by Vishal- Shekhar) which has some youthful dance numbers such as "Baby Doll", "Pehn Di Takki" & "We are Like This Only" along with a melodious, well written track "Mann Baavra". Background Music keeps the tempo going and so does its cinematography capturing the hilly locations & school sequences competently.
In the performance section, Riya as Gurpreet Kaur or Gippy plays her part quite impressively & effortlessly. Though at times she seems to be too casual in her approach but that in turn becomes a part of her on screen character as the film progresses. Arbaz and Doorva Tripathi as her best friends are truly natural and a delight to watch. Jayati Modi delivers what was required from her as the teasing girl. Mrinal Chawla and Aditya Deshpande are just fine but Taaha Shah acts well. In the grown-ups, as said earlier Divya Dutt gives one of her career best performances and Pankaj Dheer is good but Raqesh Vashisht hasn't got much to do in it.
As a film, GIPPI made me feel good and it made me feel hopeful too about the future of Hindi Cinema, since we do have thoughtful minds here who can think out of the box with the changing times. The film has been made straight from the heart, has got a sweet warmth in it and a vision too pointing towards the way kids need to be treated equally. However it also made me think that probably Bollywood is really finding it hard to make anything without the reference of Punjab or Punjabi characters in it from the last few years.
In all GIPPI is a like a fresh breeze in the mess of all stereo-typed films. It breaks the traditional shell of our society convincingly and after a long long time, Hindi Cinema gives us a worth watching film on school life, girls and adolescence.
