Women in cinema! Gantumoote: A tale of love told from the perspective of its teenaged heroine

When Roopa Rao’s Gantumoote came out, it was first a festival darling and then loved immensely by critics during its brief theatrical stint too. Roopa’s film was a love story, but one told entirely from the perspective of the film’s heroine, Meera Deshpande (Teju Belawadi). Yes, it had a hero, but this was Meera’s story; her understanding of love and what she wanted out of it. And that was the beauty of it.

Told mostly in flashback and set in the 90s, we are introduced to the cinema-loving nine-year old Meera, whose first solo movie outing almost ends in disaster when she feels a stranger’s unwanted touch. Disturbed by this invasion of her privacy, she first runs out, but is determined to not let him ruin her movie experience and returns to the hall, albeit to a different seat.

A Salman Khan fan, Meera finds her Salman in Madhu (Nischith Korodi), her 10th grade classmate, and the natural progression of their relationship – first touch, hug, and kiss happen only when she is okay with it and wants it too. This film is not all about raging teenage hormones there on; it’s a coming-of-age tale that may feel a tad slow, but is delightful nevertheless.

Narrated entirely by Meera, the story has several bright moments, like for instance her handling of being slut-shamed by a former 'suitor’; her repulsion at the toxic masculinity in most love stories that are about ‘I love you, you must love me’; why a girl who smokes is bad, while a boy who does is not judged, having to watch porn to understand how babies are made since the biology teacher gives the chapter on reproduction a miss, and so much more.

I first watched Gantumoote when it dropped on Amazon Prime Video; it came highly recommended and I must say, it quite lived up to the recommendation. This is not for films buffs who thrive on hardcore masala flicks. This is a film for the more serious film lover, who can patiently sit through an almost two-hour movie that has nothing over-the-top about it.