Imagine Devdas (2002) ending with Paro (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit Nene) walking away together, or Silsila (1981) with Chandni (Rekha) and Shobha (Jaya Bachchan) leaving Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) behind. In an ideal world, women recognise their worth, discern the pattern, and refuse to squander their lives chasing men who embody the problem. In recent pop culture memory, a glossy, half-baked attempt at portraying women’s friendships, whether in Veere Di Wedding (2018) or the web-series Four More Shots Please (2019), further alienates the audience from the premise. Contrastingly, a few films like Dedh Ishqiya (2014) and Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016) allow for a more nuanced reading into female camaraderie. Women steer the wheel instead of being ornamental to the plot or reduced to a hero’s love interest. Perhaps the longing is evident for more homegrown films exploring ambition, desire, agency, friendship, intersectionality, and the quiet whispers of everyday life. The vivid memory of watching Thelma & Louise (1991) in action cinema classes lingers, where every moment of rediscovery, rebellion, and redemption is claimed fiercely by the dynamic duo, staking its claim as a “butt-kicking feminist manifesto”.