Apart from Bad Girl, other Indian films that have won this honour at IFFR include Arun Karthick’s Nasir (2019), Mani Kaul’s Naukar ki Kameez (1999) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Vidheyan (1995)
The teaser of director Varsha Bharath’s debut film, Bad Girl, created quite a stir on social media. While it did receive its share of bouquets, the impact of the brickbats was more deeper as sections of the audience called the film out for its representation of sexual desire of a woman, and for caste-based stereotyping. While many argued it was too early to come to a conclusion considering it was just the teaser, the overwhelming negativity became the calling card for the film, presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vetrimaaran. Now, the film, which had its global premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, has earned a rare honour that might turn the tides in its favour.
Bad Girl has won the NETPAC Award (Network for the promotion of Asian Cinema) at the IFFR 2025. Incidentally, the last Tamil film to win this prestigious honour was Arun Karthick’s Nasir (2019). Other Indian films to have received this honour include Mani Kaul’s Naukar ki Kameez (1999) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Vidheyan (1995). This is undoubtedly a moment of immense pride for debut director Varsha and team Bad Girl.
Starring Anjali Sivaraman in the lead role, Bad Girl also features Shanthi Priya, Hridhu Haroon, Teejay Arunasalam, and Saranya Ravichandran in pivotal roles. The film marks Amit Trivedi’s Tamil debut, and has editing by Radha Sridhar and cinematography by Preetha Jayaraman, Jagadeesh Ravi, and Prince Anderson.
While there has been no official announcement about the release date of Bad Girl, the recognition at the IFFR might just get things moving. Bad Girl joins an interesting lineup of films that have been backed by Vetrimaaran, including Andrea’s Anel Mele Pani Thuli.
