In Prime Video series Waack Girls, six girls form a dance group in Kolkata in order to find their artistic selves and find a way to soar. Unapologetically themselves, the girls bring a new form of dance, waacking, to the forefront while juggling their personal lives and societal expectations that try to bring them down at every turn.
The series has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of around 30 minutes.
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Waack Girls Series Director
Sooni Taraporevala
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Waack Girls 2024 Writers
Sooni Taraporevala, Iyanah Bativala, Ronny Sen
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Waack Girls Prime Video Cast
Mekhola Bose, Anasua Chowdhury, Rytasha Rathore, Chrisann Pereira, Priyam Saha, Ruby Sah, Achintya Bose, Barun Chanda, Lillete Dubey, Nitesh Pandey
Waack Girls Review
In Prime Video’s Waack Girls, we see a bunch of dancers going through the ups and downs of their lives while trying to make it big in the entertainment industry with their alternative, new-age dance form that leaves everyone around them stumped. Of course, the path to success isn’t easy and with their difficult home life, the girls find themselves in a tough spot while also learning the beauty of friendship and camaraderie.
Waack Girls is definitely a fun series with the emotional highs and lows becoming the anchoring points that leave us rooted to its characters. The protagonist is Ishani, whose Alzheimer-stricken grandfather becomes the apple of everyone’s eyes. Veteran Barun Chanda shines in this role and is memorable in every frame. Whether it be during his more vulnerable moments, or when he commands everyone around with conviction and a clear head, one can’t help but care for him in their hearts, whether it be the characters or the audience.
Most of the series hinges on our believability of these girls’ friendship. The series showcases some realistic and humorous moments that make us trust that these girls can be good friends and although they have a rocky start, I found their blossoming relationships to be quite organic and natural. The personal struggles that everyone goes through in order to live their lives on their own terms in a society that doesn’t allow for individuality will be relatable to many; plus, there are also several layered issues that the series explores that will leave us sympathetic. I must say that some of these issues remain a bit underexplored, but still, the emotions remain raw.
The biggest part of the series, of course, is the dance and I can say that I was enamoured by these women’s powerful performances. All of the women are extremely talented and whenever there are dance sequences on-screen, you can’t help but be glued to the screen. Considering it’s a dance form that a lot of us might be unfamiliar with, the series does a great job of introducing it to us and making it a part of the girls’ journey. I have to say, however, that the series has several moments where you can’t help but find similarities with other movies of the genre, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing.
In that vein, Waack Girls feels like a show that we have seen a few times before. The struggles to make it big, the feeling of do or die and the issues in the crew and dipping your toes in something new and unfamiliar are not things we haven’t witnessed before. There are sequences here that feel so oddly familiar that it might make you feel deja vu. The series suffers because of this because you know exactly what’s about to happen in the next scene and that really takes away from the interest one might feel. Regardless, the series is paced well with interesting subplots and that leaves us to explore the struggles while celebrating the victories without too much annoyance!
Newcomer Mekhola Bose commands the screen with her fantastic electrifying dance performances. Although I didn’t find her consistent as an actor in the series, as a dancer, she is mesmerising. I found the other girls to be more consistent as both actors and dancers and all of them shine in their scenes, especially during the dance battle. To be fair, the dance sequences are the best part of the series and will leave you enamoured. Lastly, Rytasha Rathore is fantastic as Lopa and her character adds some much-needed confusion to a pretty straightforward series.
Final Thoughts
Although sometimes a bit repetitive, Waack Girls is entertaining through and through. The series captures the girls’ struggles and wins perfectly and the dance sequences are fantastic. Although Barun Chanda was the highlight, I was surprised at how authentic they tried to keep the series in terms of speaking Bengali. I am thankful that they didn’t showcase all of these Bengali households in Kolkata to be speaking in Hindi and most, if not all, of them spoke great Bengali. In the end, the series keeps you hooked and with a short runtime, it’s great binge-worthy content.