Why should only boys have all the funIJ Stories about engineering colleges always centre around boys and their shenanigans but this new web series shows the lives of young women in a man’s world, says Divya Giri
When one thinks of engineering colleges, the image that comes to one’s mind are boys in the mix, the book corner geeks, the locker room dudes and the genius-about-the worlds. But with onscreen depictions of male stereotypes, the narrative of young women is mostly lost when such life experiences are adapted for the screen. Fact is, the number of girl would-be engineers is increasing with each academic year. And they do make up around 30 per cent of the aspirant pool out to reshape the world. The Timeliners are trying to fix that with a new web series, The Engineering Girls, which showcases campus life from a female point of view. “The idea for directing this series has been on our minds for a long time. Every time we watch a film or a digital shot about engineering, it is always connected with boys. We have never seen this life from a girl’s perspective and we wanted to change that,” said the director of the series, Apoorv Singh Karki.
The show is written by Jasdeep Singh and Prakriti Kargeti and stars Barkha Singh, Sejal Kumar and Kritika Avasthi as Kiara, Maggu and Sabu. The show’s first episode was loaded online on June 1.
“Apart from girls having fun, the show revolves around their challenges in a male-dominated bastion, their career aspirations and their internal conflicts. For instance, there is a scene where they burst a firecracker in the hostel corridor to show that they are equal pranksters,” he said.
The characters’ personal journeys are also part of the narrative. While one character wants a startup, another wants to become an actress and the third just wants a good job. In the first episode, things were kept simple and the characters were introduced but the storyline will grow in complexity as the series progresses.
Karki said that stories with women as central characters have really taken off following the success of Dangal, solely pivoted around regular girls out to claim their space in the world. Talking about Bollywood, he adds that he would like to work on bigger projects but is currently satisfied with the freedom that working with TVF and Timeliners gives him. “I can choose my concept and the entire decision-making process is mine. I am glad to be here and if luck comes my way I can make movies toos,” he added.
The show is not for those who just graduated from school but also college pass-outs to look back on their memorable days with nostalgia. Blogger and YouTuber Sejal Kumar, for whom this was the first acting project, added, “I have not moved entirely towards acting but I was really interested and this opportunity came up. I didn’t want to lose it. Sure the number of girls in engineering is less but they also have fun, do mischief and enjoy their college life. This concept of normalcy is what has never been attempted before. The audience on the internet looks for content that is relatable and say what they want to with full freedom.” There are no plans for a second season at the moment.