Skater Girl is a 2021 coming-of-age sports drama film directed by Manjari Makijany. The cast includes newcomers Rachel Sanchita Gupta and Shafin Patel, and also stars Amrit Maghera, Jonathan Readwin and Waheeda Rehman. It was written by Manjari and Vinati Makijany, who co-produced the film through their Indian production company Mac Productions.[3] It was released on 11 June 2021 by Netflix.[4]
| Skater Girl | |
|---|---|
 Official release poster | |
| Directed by | Manjari Makijany |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | Deepa Bhatia |
| Music by | Salim–Sulaiman |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
|
| Languages |
|
| Budget | $10 million[2] |
Plot edit
In the present day in a remote village called Khempur near Udaipur in Rajasthan, teenager Prerna is living a life bound by tradition and duty to her parents.
When London-bred advertising executive Jessica arrives in the village to learn more about her late father's childhood, Prerna and the other local children are introduced to an exciting new adventure thanks to Jessica and her old friend Erick who cruises into town on a skateboard.
The kids become infatuated with the sport, skating through the village, disrupting everything and everyone around them.
Determined to empower and encourage their newfound passion, Jessica sets out on an uphill battle to build the kids their own skatepark, leaving Prerna with a difficult choice between conforming to society's expectations of her or living out her dream of competing in the National Skateboarding Championships.
Cast edit
- Rachel Sanchita Gupta as Prerna
- Shraddha Gaikwad as Gunjan
- Amrit Maghera as Jessica
- Waheeda Rehman as Maharani
- Shafin Patel as Ankush
- Anurag Arora as Mahesh
- Jonathan Readwin as Erick
- Swati Das as Shanti
- Ankit Rao as Vikram
- Ambrish Saxena as Ramkesh
- Vivek Yadav as Tipu
- Sohan Suhalka as Vishwinath
- Sahidur Rahaman as Police Officer
Production edit
Production of the film under the title Desert Dolphin took place in Khempur, a village near Udaipur, Rajasthan which was also the location for the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. As the central set of the film, the producers built Rajasthan's first and India's largest skatepark in Khempur. The film brought together crew from the US, Canada and India.[5] Production on the film completed in early 2020.[6]
The production employed approximately five hundred cast and crew including over three hundred and fifty village locals. Over three thousand children were auditioned, many of them skaters from skate communities across India.[7] The filmmakers spent over a year researching, writing and meeting with teenage girls and boys in Rajasthan to write Prerna and Ankush’s characters as authentically as possible. Fifty-five skaters from across India featured in the movie including thirty-four local skaters from Khempur.[8] [9]
Post Production was completed in Los Angeles at Warner Bros. facilities.[9]
Release edit
Reception edit
Critical reception edit
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 18 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[11]
Writing for RogerEbert.com, critic Sheila O’Malley said the film “captures the iconoclastic freedom and rebellion skateboarding has so often represented, and it joins a long line of rousing skate films.” O’Malley added,
Newcomer [Rachel Sanchita] Gupta is a revelation, as is [Shafin] Patel, who plays her mischievous and sweet younger brother. Both understand all of the complexities of this story and give beautiful and powerful performances. There may be one too many obstacles placed in Prerna's way…stacking the deck against her so there will be an even bigger payoff. But overall "Skater Girl" is so gratifying it doesn't matter.[12]
Source of inspiration edit
Following the release of the film's trailer, netizens familiar with the story of Ulrike Reinhard's skatepark and Asha Gond's rise as one of India's top skateboarders, found similarities between the movie and Gond's life.[13] While Gond was auditioned for the film, director Makijany denied that the movie was about Gond stating, "the film is not a biopic based on anyone's life story nor is it a documentary. It is not Gond or Reinhard's story."[14]
References edit
- ^ "Skater Girl (2021)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production – Skater Girl". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ Vijayakar, R.M. (16 August 2019). "waheeda-rehman-returns-to-udaipur-years-after-guide-for-desert". IndiaWest.[dead link]
- ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (27 April 2021). "Netflix's Packed Summer Movie Slate Includes 'Kissing Booth 3' and Bob Ross Documentary". Variety. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ Coutinho, Natasha (17 May 2019). "Mac Mohan's Daughters Manjari and Vinati enter Bollywood with Indias first film on skateboarding". Mid-day. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ Shuler, Skyler (17 March 2020). "Manjari Makijany Will Direct The Dance Film 'Spin' For Disney+". The DisInsider. Retrieved 24 July 2020. [better source needed]
- ^ "How This Filmmaker Duo Put India's Skateboarding Aspiration On The Global Map". Makers India. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
- ^ "Netflix movies skate park set now training ground for indian village kids". Zenger. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ a b "A skatepark in Rajasthan became the central location in netflix's Skater Girl movie". Desert Dolphin Skatepark. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Coming-of-Age Family Film "Desert Dolphin" Skates to Netflix". Netflix Media Center. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Skater Girl". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ O'Malley, Sheila (11 June 2021). "Skater Girl". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Pathak, Sushmita (11 June 2021). "Skateboarding Gives Freedom To Rural Indian Teen In Netflix Film — And In Real Life". NPR. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Lulla, Sonia (20 June 2021). "Skater Girl director Manjari Makijany: The film is not based on one person or instance". mid-day. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
