Gippi

This coming-of-age teen comedy is the cutest film you'll watch this year. You'd want to do pinch the cheeks of the person sitting next to you.

Overall, a simple story that stays pre-pubescent and doesn't quite grow into the high-school of stories.

Riya Vij is simply adorable as Gippi and there is an earnestness and confidence visible on screen which is pretty commendable for a first timer.

There is something innocent and vulnerable about Gippi that touches a chord, but it is the unnecessary mix and match of clichéd moments and mundane dialogues that prevents the film from rising above the ordinary.

Riya Vij is spontaneous as Gippi. The mom-daughter chemistry between Riya and Divya Dutta is natural, too. But the film could have done with some solid writing, notably in the second half. Gippi is a coming-of-age flick that doesn't quite come of age.

Gippi instilled in its stereotypical clichéd format, is still a pleasantly surprising venture on celluloid. Made with great sensitivity, it is a tender story of adolescent age. There are minor hiccups in the plot; but Riya Vij's immaculate work, in a story that is Bollywood's answer to Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries, is commendable. There isn't anything pristine in the film, but it evokes a sense of nostalgia that embeds with its story to leave a salient impact.

An opportunity made to go waste by director Sonam Nair, specially considering she got oodles of acting talent on her side.