The Girlfriend isn’t your typical love story and is probably not screened in as many theatres as you’d prefer to, however it’s positively price lauding for exhibiting us the mirror about how we normalise poisonous behaviour as a substitute of taking a preachy tone, notes Divya Nair.

Poisonous.

It is a phrase we’ve got been listening to quite a bit recently.

In relationships.

At workplaces.

At residence.

Even in friendships.

However how many people have the intelligence and presence of thoughts to pinpoint the precise second when somebody begins manipulating you, your ideas and most significantly, your life?

Most of you could have felt it — the delicate nudge and dismissive perspective, however have you ever paused to establish or name the individual out?

It’s natural how sure people have the flexibility to gaslight you into believing their care and concern is love, however in actuality, it’s managed cleverly disguised as affection.

And most of us do not even realise it till it is too late.

Surprisingly, this Telugu movie The Girlfriend directed by Rahul Ravindran hasn’t discovered many takers in Mumbai.

I am glad I watched it.

 

Rashmika Mandanna performs Bhooma, an introverted scholar of MA Literature, who will get trapped in a relationship with Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty) from her school.

You do not require Einstein’s brains to understand that Dheekshith is past the cool stud that he claims to be.

Beneath the charming boyfriend picture lies an insecure, entitled man-child who can flip your life the other way up.

All through the primary half, you end up questioning how a man like Vikram selected a companion like Bhooma, who’s the precise reverse of him. However because the story unfolds, the reply turns into clear.

The primary half additionally gives an enchanting peek into why and the way sure individuals show and implement particular behaviours — formed not simply by intent, however by years of acutely aware and unconscious conditioning that normalises management, manipulation, and emotional dominance.

For Bhooma, it isn’t simply her companion, she has been conditioned by her father as properly to imagine that obedience is responsibility and management is love.

The director, who additionally performs Bhooma’s mentor within the movie, has curiously used mirrors to indicate Bhooma’s battle with id and self realisation.

In a single specific sequence, when Vikram says ‘Are you aware how I really feel?’, the digital camera ascends to indicate how authority and dominance is established of their relationship.

The toilet scene — the place she realises that the partitions are closing in on her — is without doubt one of the finest visible representations of Bhooma’s poisonous relationship with Vikram.

Rashmika is a powerhouse of expertise, and she or he establishes that after once more along with her efficiency in The Girlfriend.

She’s honest because the introverted, submissive girlfriend who suffocates herself till she transforms into this fierce, impartial lady who lastly finds her voice.

Deekshit is equally sensible in his function because the poisonous boyfriend you’d like to hate.

Whereas the movie excels in its artistic storytelling in particular eventualities, in direction of the second half, it fails to steadiness the size. For instance, whereas the lead character rightfully calls out on her poisonous companion, what was disappointing was for Bhooma to return to her father who, I felt, was chargeable for her shedding her confidence within the first place.

The Girlfriend isn’t your typical love story and is probably not streaming in as many theatres as you’d prefer to, however it’s positively price lauding for exhibiting us a mirror about how we normalise poisonous behaviours as a substitute of taking a preachy tone.

The Girlfriend Assessment Rediff Ranking: