Skater Girl
| Skater Girl | |
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 Poster | |
| Directed by | Manjari Makijany |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | Salim–Sulaiman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes[1] |
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| Budget | < $10 million[2] |
Skater Girl is a 2021 Indian-American 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 also co-produced the film through their Indian production company Mac Productions.[3] It was released on 11 June 2021 by Netflix.[4]
Synopsis
Skater Girl is a coming-of-age story about confidence, courage, and the profound impact of blazing your own trail.
Set in a remote village in Rajasthan, India, the film follows Prerna (Rachel Saanchita Gupta in her debut performance), a local teen living a life bound by tradition and duty to her parents.
But when London-bred advertising executive Jessica (Amy Maghera) 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 (Jonathan Readwin) 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
- 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
Production of the film under the title Desert Dolphin took place in a village near Udaipur, Rajasthan called Khempur. As the central set of the film, the Producers decided to build Rajasthan's first and India's largest skatepark in Khempur which was also the location for the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. 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 during the making of the movie. 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 young 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 34 local skaters from Khempur.[8] [9]
Post Production was completed in Los Angeles at Warner Bros. Post Production Facilities.[10]
Release
The film was released by Netflix on 11 June 2021.[11][4]
Reception
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.90/10. [12]
Source of inspiration
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
- ^ "Skater Girl (2021)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production – Skater Girl". Variety Insight. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ Vijayakar, R.M. (16 August 2019). "waheeda-rehman-returns-to-udaipur-years-after-guide-for-desert". IndiaWest.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Shuler, Skyler (17 March 2020). "Manjari Makijany Will Direct The Dance Film 'Spin' For Disney+". The DisInsider. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ "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 skatepark in Rajasthan became the central location in netflix's Skater Girl movie". Desert Dolphin Skatepark. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Skater Girl (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Pathak, Sushmita (11 June 2021). "Skateboarding Gives Freedom To Rural Indian Teen In Netflix Film — And In Real Life". NPR. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
