Remember when we were young and all we could think of was the things we would do once we grew up? The freedom to travel places on your own, to have a life that we want on our own terms and owning things that we wish to. Well, we all realised with time that this pretty little picture that we painted of adulthood back then, has way more to it.
Adulting comes with a whole lot of responsibilities, expectations, new life changing experiences and a plethora of feelings. It’s a different experience all together for different individuals. And this being said it’s not all rainbows and unicorns but struggles, battles with the society and at times our own insecurities. “Growing Up” on Disney+ Hotstar talks about the same. It’s a window to the lives of teenagers and their experiences in life in the journey of becoming an adult. This documentary is not an usual one that you come across focusing on the technicals and explaining a particular phenomenon but here it talks of the whirlpool of emotions an individual faces through the process of growing up.
It will overturn your expectations when it comes to the cinematography and the graphics used. It narration would give you proper euphoria vibes and whimsical scenes like straight out of a music video.
The way art has been used in the series as a medium of expression, in lives of people from different backgrounds cannot go unnoticed. Painting the canvas with the colours you feel, hitting the notes that make the noise ringing in your head or telling your story through different body movements/ postures makes it so pleasing and appealing to the eyes.
It also shares how much importance can art play and what change it can bring into one’s life. Plus the idea itself of the characters sitting together, having a group discussion sharing their own thoughts and life stories unfiltered makes it even more relatable to the young audience. Along with the real life video clips shown as flash backs and their parents giving thier opinions and point of view gives more perspective and insight to the stories shared.
The true beauty and supremacy of the series is not only in it as a whole but also in bits and pieces of it. It puts light on the slightest of feelings be it the judgements you recieve when you want to start something of your own, be it a club in your college, the insecurities of self image, looks and the constant rush and need to fit in and whatever comes along with it. It may not give you the right solutions to what to do in situations like these but surely makes you feel “You’re not the only one”, “it’s okay to seek help”, and “Don’t turn your back towards your own feelings”. This show serves it’s purpose, of being what the characters didn’t have when they were growing up.
Overall, this show came to me as something different, much needed in today’s time when being pretentious about your own self is normalised and not talked about. Today when it’s so easy to give your opinion on anything or anyone (stands on the top of cons list of social media and transperancy that comes with it) this show helps you by being a mirror of the society yet motivating you to hang in there, as eventually it’s all going to be okay.
