‘Water Lilies’ and the Journey of Identity
A gentle coming of age story, Water Lilies takes its time in exploring what it’s like to be a young girl trying to make sense of her sexuality in a heteronormative world.

Ravi Teja plays a young man desperate to become a police officer, who becomes embroiled in a plot to pose as his lookalike in order to re-capture an infamous thug from rogue cops. The film revolves around two similar looking people, Baldev Sahay - a corrupt ACP in Kolkata and Tirupathi - a person aspiring to become a police officer in Hyderabad. The home minister of Kolkata recruits Tirupathi to play as Baldev to catch a gangster rescued by Baldev. Rest of the story is all about why Baldev became a corrupt cop and how Tirupathi executed the unfinished mission of Baldev.
A gentle coming of age story, Water Lilies takes its time in exploring what it’s like to be a young girl trying to make sense of her sexuality in a heteronormative world.
Gay representation is out there, but to portray a character who's gay as a big, happy brute is a rare treat.
As this critic continues to look back at some of this Summer's films I have taken in, I would be remiss if I didn't mention one of the most overall unsettling trends in Hollywood over the last several years.....sequels, reboots, and remakes. Look, I am all for seeing more than one film for certain originals that made a splash, ie: "Jurassic Park", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Transformers", etc.
The makings of a great midseason filler episode that would connect in many different directions. This is a police drama filler with a guest director.
As a frequent “the book was better” extoller, this movie was well worth the watch.
The fun tricks used in the production design and lighting read extremely well on-screen but hardly fulfill their purpose of trying to inject glamour into a lack-luster story with nothing to say.