‘Ziddi Girls’ series review: A college drama that lacks confidence

A still from ‘Ziddi Girls’ 

Amazon Prime Video’s latest offering, Ziddi Girls, begins with a chart outlining the features of a ‘ziddi’ girl. “A ziddi (stubborn) girl defies societal norms”—a college fresher is asked by her senior to read out from the chart, just a few minutes into the show. This segment sums up how most of the script executes its ethos of stubbornness — with the right intentions, but shaky convictions.

Set in an all-girls college in Delhi, Ziddi Girls is an ambitious venture into the world of early adulthood, and student politics. However, its potential for nuance is curtailed by its tendency to rely on platitudes to underscore and justify its subsequent actions. The show created by Ishita Pritish Nandy and Rangita Pritish Nandy, and produced by the late Pritish Nandy, introduces a diverse range of characters, whose otherwise ‘normal’ college life is upturned with the introduction of a new conservative college principal.

From Paro (Sudhana) the rule-breaking senior, to Devika (Anupriya Caroli) the naive small-town fresher who only cares about getting the highest grades, the cast is set up to reflect the varied anxieties of student life, that is also now uniquely political. The young cast is supported by an equally diverse group of teachers. Nandita Das, and Nandish Singh Sandhu play professors who are dismayed by the dismissal of the former Principal (played by Revathy in a cameo appearance), and struggle to work alongside her replacement — Lata Bakshi (Simran).

Across eight episodes, the show introduces new anxieties for these two groups, both on their own learning curves. Starting off with a national controversy, the college is made to deal with the reversal of curfew timings, student elections, and increased surveillance of their projects. While the students deal with these issues in their dorms, at hockey practice, and at drama club rehearsals, the professors are seen debating in their staff room. Ziddi Girls casts its narrative net wide. Dividing a single strand of conflict across a range of ages and ideologies, it sometimes finds itself searching for a run-time it doesn’t have. Moreover, the script early on shows an over-reliance on its lead characters launching into inspirational monologues. It works the first couple of times, but by the end appears to be a fail-safe that the show is using to give weight to its actions later on.

Ziddi Girls appears to have its heart in the right place, and does a good-enough job of its basic mission – portraying a microcosm of a progressive space, now existing under the gaze of a conservative eye. A tighter, more confident script could do well to compliment the urgency of the show’s pacing.

Ziddi Girls is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video