Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The standout element of Amazon Mini TV series “Sisterhood” is both its strength and weakness—its formulaic simplicity. Set in an all-girls convent school in Mumbai, the five-episode show follows the shenanigans of four ninth-grade girls.
Nitya Mathur plays Nikita Waghmare, the ‘gundi’ of the school, one warning away from being expelled. She is friends with the topper of her class, the clever and hardworking Zoya Baig (Anvesha Vij). Nikita and Zoya always sit together, but this changes when their class teacher makes Ann D’Silva (Bhagyashree Limaye), a dim-witted girl repeating the ninth grade, sit with Zoya. Nidhi Bhanushali plays new student Gargi Oberoi, whose parents are always moving, so she keeps changing schools and isn’t interested in making friends. However, the four end up being close, largely due to Nikita’s antics that always threaten to land them in trouble.
Titled “The First Day,” episode one introduces all the primary protagonists and for a moment, the premise feels like the boarding school drama “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” However, “Sisterhood” is much more bubblegum in flavor since its characters are younger. The biggest villain in “Sisterhood” is a tattletale girl named Kiara (Saumya Uniyal), who vies for Zoya’s spot as class topper and monitor. She is always spying on Zoya and Nikita to get them into trouble with the teachers. There’s no real malevolence at play, just some troublesome rivalries and petty jealousies.
Nitya Mathur’s Nikita Waghmare is the most entertaining character in the show. A typical troublemaker with poor grades, she is always cheating in exams, stealing money to pay her fines, and playing petty pranks to annoy everybody. Influenced by Bollywood, she aspires to become a rapper after watching the movie “Gully Boy.” Anvesha Vij is quite likable as the nerdy Zoya, always buried in books and taking her ‘best friend’ duties seriously. Bhagyashree Limaye, though looking too old to be a repeat ninth grader, playfully captures the essence of a malleable, innocent teen as the religious Ann D’Silva. Constantly mocked for failing her exams by her older classmates in class ten, Ann tries hard to emulate Zoya and believes in the power of prayer to solve all her problems. Nidhi Bhanushali as the new student Gargi is the sassiest among the four. A smart-talker, despite her reluctance, she becomes close friends with the others. The joys of friendship is the biggest theme in “Sisterhood,” as these four girls fight, study, debate, dance, laugh, and cry together.
Episode two, titled “Where art thy periods, Juliet,” is my favorite in this five-part series. It hilariously explores how young girls feel about menstruation. Late bloomer Nikita is stressed over not having her period yet, and her friends try to explain that everyone’s body is different and that she should be glad not to experience cramps and mood swings yet. The episode reminded me of the book-movie “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” which poignantly captures the various confusing stages of adolescence. Besides the period conundrum, the episode also features a funny rivalry between Ann and Gargi as they fight over auditioning for the role of Juliet in a school play. The face-off between the two over “who is more girly” is childishly funny as it should be.
The world-building of the convent girls’ school is on point in the series, especially scenes of the sisters checking students for following the dress code and rules—having their nails cut and hair tied in neat ponytails. Sangeetha Balachandran is endearing in her cameo as Sister Rosie, a senior science teacher with a soft heart, while Meenal Kapoor plays the tough taskmaster Sister Diane, who is always keen on punishing students. Although Sister Diane seems to have an unrealistic personal vendetta against Nikita, having studied in more than half a dozen schools myself, including three different boarding schools, I know teachers can be very unpredictable—from being completely aloof to being infuriatingly nosy.
Things begin to get a little dull and contrived in episode four, which introduces a clichéd conflict—a fight between the two best friends over an unintentional mistake, so the other two girls try to patch things up between them. Regardless, “Sisterhood” has some genuinely funny school moments throughout its runtime, with relatable banter between its characters. Some of the jokes aren’t necessarily in sync with the characters’ personalities and seem like the writers’ attempt to slip in a funny joke for older viewers. For example, Nikita is a complete slacker who thinks the increase in earth temperature is called “Global Warning,” yet she makes a quick adult joke like “it’s so dry down here that the government is ready to give a subsidy,” referring to her delayed period. Although the joke “people are having mood swings and my mood is still playing on the swings” was a fun one.
If a light “slice of life” series about a bunch of school girls navigating through friendships, school projects, exams, and rivalries sounds fun to you, “Sisterhood” offers just that.
Rating: 6 on 10. Stream the show on Prime Video.
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