Manjari Makijany’s Skater Girl on Netflix is the story of a young girl, Prerna in her teenage years, who grapples with poverty, patriarchy, and caste divides in her village Khempur in Rajashthan to skate freely. Jessica, a half-Indian from London visits Khempur village to which her father belonged as a two-week getaway from work. She is happily amused to see a cardboard skateboard like structure which the kids over there call a bearing car. 

Jessica’s friend Erick, who is from LA but works in India, pays her a visit in Khempur. He brings a skateboard with him. The children of the village are intrigued by this new toy. They all seem extremely curious. Erik asks Prerna to try skating. Eventually, Jessica gifts skateboards to these children as a result of their increasing admiration for the sport. Their love for skating is visible in the way they go around the village on their boards. However, the village authorities and school teachers, annoyed by these kids skating on roads and coming in the way of daily chores of other people, set a fine for skating in the village. Thereon, Jessica takes it upon herself to provide the kids with a space to skate and live their passions. She, along with Erick, sets up a massive skating park with the help of the Maharani - against the disapproval of the village elders. 

In the film, skating is often mentioned as “ladkon wale kaam”. The gender divide is very evident. Prerna’s father chooses to spend on the schooling of her younger brother Ankush while she travels with him to sell groundnuts around cities. When Prerna’s mother offers to work in order to contribute to the meagre family income, she is reprimanded by her husband because a woman cannot work while the man of the house is alive. Only the man is and must be capable of going out to work in his opinion. These instances account for deep seated patriarchy in remote villages of our country. They seem authentic and make you clench your teeth when the scenes play out.

However, the treatment of another social issue of caste is very superficial in the film. The intentions of writers Manjari Makijany and her sister Vinati Makijani look earnest, but perhaps, here is where a closer look and the experience of the filmmaker comes into play. Some dialogues pertaining to the issue are just not enough for a movie which has chosen to address the problem. 

The debutante Rachel Saanchita Gupta as the lead of the film puts up a strong performance. The joy of Prerna, while she skates through the lanes of her village, is visible in Rachel’s eyes. Her faint stuttering voice when she speaks depicts the baggage of her gender and caste aptly. You root for Prerna from the beginning as she breaks through the set norms to achieve her dream, credit to Rachel Saanchita’s effective acting.

Another fun character to watch is played by newcomer Shafin Patel as Ankush, Prerna’s younger brother. He is the perfect sidekick to his didi Prerna. Amy Maghera as the London return Jessica is good but does seem caricaturish at certain moments. And also, lookout for the cameo by the beautiful Waheeda Rehman in the film.

As any other sports film, Skater Girl is another coming of age sports drama film. In Skater Girl, Prerna’s strife to choose to skate and live her dreams over her forced marriage is endearing. 

Movie rating: 3/5