A story about women empowerment, told by a woman with the help of four female characters. Skater Girl may sound like the title of a movie shot in Brooklyn showcasing the grit of a Western teenage girl finding her place on the skate slopes. However, the setting of this movie couldn’t be more different – a small village outside of Udaipur, Rajasthan. Dust-filled air, small huts with leaking roofs, water fountains segregated by class system.
A half-Indian woman comes to this village in search of her ancestry and stays behind to uplift the life of the village children by giving them a reason to believe. Along with a set of friends she sets out to build a skatepark for these children that have fallen in love with skateboarding but are not allowed to use it around the village. God forbid you are a girl spotted on a board.
While this is not the first movie, especially in recent times, that shows the change opportunities can bring to women’s lives it’s interesting to see how four different women relate to the struggle of emancipation in their own ways:
Prerna, a teenager, has every life decision made for her by her father. She is not allowed to go to school. She has to marry the man of her father’s choice so he can get rid of her. She isn’t given the freedom to think, be, or want.
Prerna’s mother, a dutiful housewife, struggles between the obedience towards her husband, her own desire to change “the system” and supporting her daughter to live her dream.
Jessica, the half-Indian visitor from London, is successful in her career, searching for meaning in life and unmarried. No doubt, the last descriptor is shoved in her face more than once.
Maharani sa belongs to the Royal family of Rajasthan but has had her own nondescript struggles with rules for women which motivates her to support the idea of a skatepark in her village.
Prerna’s little brother, Ankush, deserves a special mention: Untainted by gender bias, eternally optimistic, mischievous and always ready to support his sister (even by giving her the pants he is wearing so she can skate on her wedding day :)) is the kind of character you cannot help but fall in love with.
Another noteworthy, yet underdeveloped character, is that of Subodh’s – Prerna’s school friend and silent admirer. He is a beacon of support but somehow gets forgotten as the story develops.
Skating may seem like an unusual sport to introduce village kids to but it can be seen as a metaphor for ‘opportunity’ of any kind. Just the other day, I was discussing with a few friends how learning anything as a child is so much easier, more effective and joyful than learning as an adult. When you see the sparkle in Prerna’s eyes as she stands on a skateboard for the first time, arms spread, “flying” down a dust road you know what freedom looks like.
For those of you who only know me as an adult here’s a little know secret: As an 11-year-old, I too was a little skater girl giving wings to my heart navigating the hilly roads of my hometown on my green, yellow and pink light-up skateboard!
A great watch even if it has some flaws and unfinished threads. (8/10)
That Story I Like 