Waack Girls review: While it has its moments, this nine-part series lacks heart!

Created by Sooni Taraporevala, Waack Girls has a beautiful aesthetic to it that you'll love watching more of until you're distracted by the serious lack of depth in some characters.

Having grown up on Boogie Woogie, I thought I'd seen it all until I walked into college as a 16 year old and chanced upon some artsy kids popping and locking any chance they got. They looked like they lived and breathed dance and as intimidated as I was by this clique, observing them exposed me to most dance forms I know of today; that and Dance India Dance - a series that introduced India to multiple dance styles, like my college did for me. Waack Girls acts just like that kind of introduction, like Step Up once did. The underdog story of a dance group is one we're all to familiar with but one that puts girls on the map is what makes this one rare. Women rarely get the light of the day IRL so watching these 6 girls shine onscreen felt like we're rooting for someone we love. 

Ishani, LP, Michke, Tess and Anumita, find their way to each other thanks to Lopa, the manager of the Waack Girls. You're made privy to their respective stories in bits and pieces across the first season and while some of it adds up, the rest leaves you wondering why some characters are so half-assed. Michke (Priyam Saha) is perpetually a no care in the world, "happy go lucky" girl which doesn't add up when you take into account that she's daily body shamed by her mother and now by a fellow waack girl, LP! Would we love being this unaffected by shame? Duh! Is it possible to always be sassy in return and look the other way? Ofcourse not! Add to this (Rytasha Rathore) Lopa's lack of processing her family's dismissal of her sexuality and her identity and you're left scratching your head. (Anasua Chowdhury) LP's backstory too adds no value to her character arc. She's the princess of Guwahati and that's all that's mentioned of her. Parts of this series feels tokenist. Case in point - Lopa's relationship with her girlfriend Leena which isn't explored in the least.

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Waack Girls takes a Step Up kinda storytelling approach with its direction and cinematography which makes it an easy watch. Even scenes where Ishani and dadu are battling with dadu having dementia, there's no melodrama. The series is very clear about what it wants to convey; it almost feels like a documentary. Scenes where the girls are waacking make it hard to look away! The house, where most of the series is shot, adds so much aesthetic to the vibe and tone of the series - it's raw, authentic and rough around the edges, just like the waack girls themselves. Watching the group struggle with following a structure and respecting leadership reminds you how, fabulous dancers or not, these girls are still just teenagers at the end of the day! Moments like these make you appreciate how well made this series really is. Oh and that music video that's shot across Kolkata? It's perfection! 

Watching Barun Chanda as dadu struggle with dementia as a has been, well known theatre actor made this series so human. Nitesh Pandey, who plays Lopa's dad, makes you hate him with a passion which makes this character so different from the earnest ones he usually plays. As always, Lillete Dubey (Abby) was a treat for sore eyes. Gulfam Khan as Lopa's mother, was heavily underutilized though! Mekhola Bose as Ishani shines through across the 9 episodes. There's ample screentime given to her so you're able to connect with her unlike the other characters.

What ticks me about this series is that there's no resolving anything major; it's all shoved under the carpet. Tension between the girls disappears overnight when they fight some rowdy men at a sangeet, similar to the Mc Donald's scene in Chak De India. Abby gets over gambling addiction overnight and her daughter starts trusting her again. The girls put together all their savings and bet half of that on a horse only for that to go sideways and nobody bats an eye? If this is how it works in fiction, maybe that's the wold I want to live in.

Waack Girls is streaming on Prime Video!

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