GIRLS just wanna have fun in this British coming-of-age comedy.

Metin Husseyin's nostalgic rites-of-passage drama, based on the best-selling novel by Meera Syal, traces the fortunes of two teenagers rebelling against their parents and expectations.

Twelve-year-old Meena (Chandeep Uppal) lives with her Punjabi parents in the less-than-exotic surroundings of a rural English village during the seventies.

Her family want her to go to grammar school and have a better life but Meena just wants to write stories for teenage girls' magazines and be blonde.

Trouble rides into town in the form of beautiful tearaway teenage temptress Anita (Anna Brewster), who loves to tease the boys and to steal from the local sweetshop.

Despite their differences the girls strike up a friendship that will change both their lives dramatically . SC