Starring: Pooja Bhatt, Zoya Hussain, Suchitra Pillai, Raima Sen, Afrah Sayed, Vidushi, Dalai, Akshita Sood, Aneet Padda, Avantika, Manjoree Kar, Tenzin Lhakyila, Adytya Rraj
Creator/Director: Nitya Mehra
This series brimming with feminine energy streaming on Amazon Prime Video offers up a range of new talent alongside some well-known names in Bollywood.
Anita Verma (Bhatt) is the no-nonsense headmistress of Vandana Valley Girls’ Boarding School, ensconced somewhere in the Himalayas on the Indian border with Nepal. The idyllic hill station with dense forests offers the teenage pupils plenty of opportunities to nurture their secret getaways and escapes as they rebel against the tough rules of the school.
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While Ludo (Avantika) is battling with her sexuality, JC (Lhakyila) is coming to terms with her obligations as a princess of a Nepalese royal family. Her best friend Roohi (Padda) tries to help her out of an inevitable arranged marriage by setting her up with Veer (Rraj) from a neighbouring boys’ school. But this tryst doesn’t quite go to plan, with many similar well-laid plans by scholarship student Kavya Yadav (Vidushi) and class topper Noor (Sayed) also coming to nought.
With the school’s Founder’s Day fast approaching, will the headmistress achieve her goal of impressing the education minister enough for a grant to build a new science wing or will ex-student Aliya Lamba’s (Hussain) intensely feminist play prove explosive in the hands of rebellious poet Dia Malik (Sood)?
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This engaging series has all the familiar elements of similar coming-of-age international dramas, with the female-centric prism lending a refreshing touch. However, the script tends to meander along the way, requiring audiences to stick it through some very sluggish episodes.
On the whole, it is quite watchable for offering a somewhat original perspective on the many school dramas that tend to be mostly from male perspective.