livyatnair When you see the trailers of Gippi, what stands out is that its a movie about the misfits or the ones in the class who aren't the coolest or the smartest. It also talks about character and friendships.The movie takes you through some things that most girls face while growing up. Especially being a teenager in today's overly conscious, hyper world. So whether it is the clothes or the looks or the boyfriend, the movie touches a bit on all of that. It touches on the importance of friendships and the right friendships at that.What isn't so nice is that after a bit, the movie tends to drag. The story line falters and the actors aren't able to prop it up either. This is partly also because the girl is quite young and hasn't been able to portray all her scenes with as much reality as one would expect. I am also not too sure about the ending of this movie. The character Gippi is shown as taking on a challenge first for the heck of it and then, just to prove she can do it. However, towards the end the seriousness of the challenge is undermined by the way she behaves when she does succeed and her logic for it. In our schools in India today, the position of the Head Girl or Head Boy is that of a person who is supposed to be a role model. Taking on that role is not taken lightly and nor should it be considered so. While the point they are trying to bring across is that no one is a loser or that everyone has a strength, something about the way she does it seems to belittle that belief. Overall, I'd say the movie is a pleasant one, watchable once.

bobbysing 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.

Tejas Nair Gippi is what Student Of The Year was in 2012. And they are quite related - school life (instead of college life), competition & relationships.Riya Vij is sweet & plump, perfect for the lead character. She acts well, too, but in various attempts in trying to be cool, she stumbles midway. Divya Dutta is mature & good. Arbaz Kadwani is great and is the perfect brother. I could relate to him.The story isn't new to us. The plot has been MADE inventive with the inclusion of puberty, sexual organs & blah blah blah. While, Sonam Nair touches these "blah blah blah" (sensitive) topics deftly, she loses vision & the story-line crumbles to something else, which is why I mentioned SOTY before. Here, they vie for the post of Head-Girl. First half is genuine. Second half is acutely predictable & stands as the integral part in spoiling the whole movie-watching fun. With hugely ridiculous slapstick plot turns, it also has its side-stories which makes it either "indecent" or "mature" (depending on the viewer). Otherwise, Gippi has nice music, mediocre dialogs, good performances & average screenplay.Bring back the school memories with Gippi, but if you are a serious cinema buff, then you might wanna reconsider. Cute little 14-year olds having a strict diet plans & NOT gorging on ice-creams is a thing the filmmakers should have reconsidered.BOTTOM LINE: 4.1/10 for the fatso Gippi(who isn't as fat as she seems to be) who makes it watchable. Every growing kid CAN/SHOULD/MAY/MAY-WANT-TO/MUST/OUGHT-TO watch it!MESSAGE: It's all about having a BIG heart & being yourself.Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YESProfanity: No | Sex, Nudity or Mouth-Kiss: No | Vulgarity: Very Mild (with a kiddo perspective) | Violence, Gore: No | Alcohol: Mediocre | Smoking: Strong | Drugs: No

dineshprakash Director, Ms. Sonam Nair's work and approach towards subject is good. Promo was showing that this movie will deal cutely with the confusion of adolescent but it moves from a love story to a family track also. I would love it more if they would tackle the sensitive issue of puberty age in funny and informative way but unfortunately, they just touch it and then start roaming around other issues. Story, screenplay and dialogues are by Director herself. Concept is good. Story is very linear. Screenplay is just OK. Few dialogues are really very touching and good, i.e when Divya Dutta talks about the cause of her divorce. Performance wise the lead girl Riya Vij as Gippi is awesome but fails to hold the deep emotional scene. Arbaz Kadwani as Booboo (Gippi's younger brother) is impressive. Doorva Tripathi as Aanchal is very good. Divya Dutta is fine. An actor, who played Samira is also good. One song "Naam baby Se Baby Doll..." is good.