"Gippi" movie review

"Gippi" movie review by Dipashri Bardhan:-





A POETRY: Certainly it was embarrassing, when I first realized that I had been changing automatically & no longer be classified under 'Child' category...Some restrictions from my elders expectedly came into my way, in the form of 'to do' & 'not to do' lists, making my mind echo that poem by Cilla Henriette: "I was awakened...To a light of liberation/ It was bright but shy...I wonder why/ I was a child yesterday...But today is different/ I’m just like a clay...To be shaped or bent"..

Today, while watching 'Gippi', I was reliving a slice of my adolescence & school days...In fact, everyone (especially womenfolks) can relate to this film, since almost everybody experiences that freakish combination of discomfort-pleasure, arrogance-humiliation & jealousy-sympathy during their transition from childhood to adulthood, which kind of reflects that idea of Carol Burnett, "Adolescence is just one big walking pimple.." !! Here, let me draw a picture whether 'Gippi'-the latest presentation from Dharma Productions & UTV Motion Pictures effectively cures such pimple of juvenility or not...

A MOVIE: Based in Simla, the movie tells the story of a 14-year-old girl Gippi (Riya Vij), who is quite ordinary in terms of studies, sports & looks..At home, she faces trouble for her parents are divorced, whereas in school, she is constantly teased by an attractive & intelligent girl (hence, popular in the school campus) Shamira (Jayati Modi)...Meanwhile, she feels awkward with the hormonal changes affecting her physically & mentally, followed by a failure in her first love-story with Arjun (Taaha Shah)..What happens next forms the crux of the drama !!

'HIGH's : The movie scored really high in Cinematography (Anshuman Mahaley) + Editing (Yashashwini Y.P) + Music (Vishal-Shekhar) & Acting (full marks to Riya Vij & Divya Dutta..The supporting casts also shined in their respective roles)...The kids looked as fresh as morning dew, thereby adding the required sweetness to the show !!

'LOW's : The movie scored equally low in Screenplay (so, deccelerating the flow & increasing the predictability of the story) + Climax (lacked right intensity) + Showing Gippi dancing to Shammi Kapoor numbers looked out of place, because teenagers of today's era would normally connect to contemporary songs/heroes...Also, Shamira's meanness toward Gippi (for no reason) gets diluted in audience's mind, when Gippi does the same towards Ashish(Aditya Deshpande) & Kabir(Mrinal Chawla), without any strong provocation = All written by debutant Director Sonam Nair showed the mediocrity of her effort...

A MESSAGE (Perfection vs Imperfection): The moment Gippi learnt that ‘A beautiful thing is never perfect’ (Tagline of 'Gippi'), the movie silently delivered a subtle message regarding the pursuit of perfection & imperfection…Interestingly, this pursuit is nothing new…Let's see chronologically,
1)In Egypt (around 2500 BC) Pharaohs were considered as perfect human beings, thus worshipped in the temples as GOD.. 2) Aristotle (around 323 BC) defined ‘perfection’ as “something which is complete + has attained its purpose”… 3) During renaissance (around 16th Century), sculptors made masterpieces of perfect human body…In addition, Leonardo Da Vinci used geometry to make flawless human figure… 4) In today’s world when women pamper themselves with ‘Dior’ in their lips or ‘Gucci’ in their eyes and men indulge themselves in ‘TAG Heuer’ in their wrists or ‘Giorgio Armani’ in their wardrobes, the same conflict between perfection & imperfection whispers..

And this conflict has no end, unless one decides what is more important: Attainable happiness or unattainable satisfaction !! Since perfection has no fixed terminology, so the same thing can be viewed as perfect & imperfect by different observers...But, if you can give your best at whatever you do,without thinking of 'being perfect', then irrespective of the material outcome, achievement will surely greet you since you are the best judge to yourself...Constantly aiming for perfection gives birth to despair since it has no limit, symbolizing the thought of Vladimir Horowitz: "Perfection itself is imperfection" !! Won't you agree that luscious smiles are mostly asymmetrical/ 18 Karat gold ornament always glitters more than 22 Karat gold ornament or, a husky voice is often more alluring than a smooth voice ?

As the movie ended, an imperfect girl (Gippi) truly brightened those lines of a perfect beauty (Marilyn Monroe), “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring..." !!

An OPINION: Although having a deep message, the movie somehow failed in impactful execution...Overall, 'Gippi' is good for a one time watch only, complemented by a feel-good factor...Go & watch this Coming-of-Age flick where a small girl proves that 'Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect...It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections' (Tagline of 'Gippi')...

Recommended !!

By: Dipashri Bardhan