With Rashmi Rocket, Taapsee Pannu, Akarsh Khurana explore gender testing in sports: It's not the story of just one athlete

Gender testing is not a new concept in international sports. It has been around since the late ’60s when sports federations introduced it to weed out male imposters from races for women. In India, this is a story that pops up every few years, and then is promptly forgotten in a week or so.

Rashmi Rocket is a story with this gender test at its core. Rashmi, star athlete and India’s greatest hope of winning a medal in the upcoming tournaments, faces a ban for failing a gender test that she is unwittingly subject to. Starring Taapsee Pannu, Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Banerjee, and Priyanshu Painyuli, this is a fictional account of not one athlete or incident but aims to show the struggles faced by female athletes in general.

Pannu says that very few athletes were available to talk or meet since it is too much of a taboo. There was a fear that by speaking to just one or two of the athletes available, they would not do justice to the story as a whole. “Discussing it with one athlete, in particular, would have ended up (with the story) going in that particular athlete’s mindset and life, which I didn’t want. It had to stay a story about a lot of incidents rather than one athlete in particular,” she says.

What first got Pannu interested in the story was the idea of the gender test itself. “Despite being such a sports lover and enthusiast, I was shocked that I was not aware of this test.” It was not just the test that drew her attention, but rather the bizarreness of it and the identity battle it sparked. Director Akarsh Khurana (of Karwaan -fame) hopes that this movie makes people aware of the discriminatory rules in sports. Debates, discussions, and actual change are a long way ahead. When Khurana came on board, he was aware of the tremendous research this story would involve. He got screenwriter and ex-journalist Aniruddha Guha to join the team, believing that his journalistic training would help the film. The research included speaking to sports federations across the country, as well as athletes, doctors, and psychologists. They also watched several sports movies and documentaries to understand the storytelling though the one movie Khurana refused to go back to was Bhaag Milka Bhaag . “I didn’t want this movie to be too similar,” was his explanation. [caption id=“attachment_10047221” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Taapsee Pannu in a still from Rashmi Rocket | YouTube Screenshot[/caption] The next step was the physical training for this role. Pannu had to undergo intense, grilling training for months to look the part. She mentions how difficult this period was for her. Not only did she have to look and be physically fit to play an athlete, but also have her body show subtle indications of not being “feminine enough.” It was a whole shift in lifestyle, including diet, training, and sleep timings. Most days, she would be too tired to even get up for training. What motivated her was a whole team that depended on her to deliver. Her training would often coincide with shoots for other movies. “Even professional athletes get to relax their bodies after training, but I didn’t have that privilege,” she laughs. Pannu was relieved when the shoot of the races ended, celebrating with a long and hearty meal with all her favourites: chole bhature from Delhi, halwa, gulab jamun, lasagne, pasta, almond cakes, french fries, and Maggi. The race scenes were also what Khurana found most challenging. He was apprehensive about the scale of the shoot, as well as shooting during the pandemic. He was helped by the DOP, Neha Parti Matiyani, who had experience in shooting at this scale, and the professionalism of the actors themselves. “I can’t imagine anyone except Taapsee in this role,” he says, adding that her enthusiasm, hard work, and drive motivated the entire team. One of the most interesting aspects of the movie is the portrayal of female relationships — both positive and negative. Pannu credits the writing team for being able to bring out the nuances so perfectly.

“A lot of people say men can’t write female characters, but I’ve found that it’s not true in my career,” Taapsee says.

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“It is just this kind of thinking we want to challenge, in any case,” adds Khurana. “The nuance comes from working extensively with women and having women as filters and checks. It helps to not be regressive,” he adds.

What draws Taapsee to stories on gender discrimination, though? Rashmi Rocket will be her third film, after Pink and Thappad , with a clear gender issue at its centre. “It’s just that gender discrimination is so prevalent. It comes up in every story in one way or the other; you can’t avoid it,” she says.

Talking about the trolling she faces online, almost daily, Pannu says that she has made her peace with it. “Social media is a virtual world. It is not close to what the real world is. It has taken me some time to understand how contradictory the two worlds are. I see so much toxicity on social media, but I still see so much love and kindness towards me when I go out. Trolls are making me feel so important and relevant because it feels like whatever I say matters. Because if it didn’t, why would anyone spend so much time and effort on me?” she says. While Khurana hopes that this movie will be entertaining for the audience and leave a lingering impression in their minds about the issues, Pannu has a deeper hope. “Never let anybody else tell you who you are” is what she wants the audience to leave with. She says it is this freedom to choose your identity that is pivotal to the film. Rashmi Rocket will premiere on ZEE5 on 15 October. Shreemayee is a writer and a stand-up comedian. She writes mostly on cinema and culture. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @weepli.