Showing posts with label Vinati Makijany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinati Makijany. Show all posts
Skater Girl courts controversy as activist Ulrike Reinhard says it’s based on her life
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Film on skateboarding courts controversy as activist Reinhard says it’s based on her life; Skater Girl director Makijany asserts it draws from stories across India
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; June 20, 2021)
Days after the release of the Netflix film, 'Skater Girl', Ulrike Reinhard found her inbox flooded with congratulatory messages. The German social activists’ work in enabling Asha Gond — an underprivileged resident of Janwaar, whose inspirational stories of overcoming odds to pursue her love for skating—has been lauded for years, and netizens could draw parallels between her life story, and what unfolded on screen.
But, Reinhard doesn’t find herself rejoicing the release of debutante director Manjari Makijany’s film. She laments the fact that the makers went ahead and made it, despite her fall-out with them. “[I was told] that it was based on my life. They had also told me it was based on a girl, which was obviously Asha, given that she was the person I would talk about to them. The filmmaker says it is not based on this story, but there is no other instance of a foreigner coming to a rural village, building a skatepark, and working with the community,” says Reinhard of the character Jessica, played by Amy Maghera.
“But, Jessica’s story is my own,” argues Makijany, an LA resident of Indian heritage, who built a skating park in Rajasthan, ahead of the shooting of the film. She further argues that it was the unit instead that found themselves revisiting their association with Reinhard after they began to question her “credibility”.
In emails sent to Reinhard, which mid-day has access to, the deal of a co-working experience had been set out. “We had Skype calls, in-person meetings with the producer and director in Janwaar and Jaipur, and also interactions with the filmmaker’s sister [Vinati], who had come to Janwaar to cast for the film. I also had a contract to work with them as a research consultant, but I left it because while they had promised to work as co-creators, they were not interested in highlighting our processes,” says Reinhard, further making a case for Gond, whose life story, she asserts, forms the crux of the film.
But, Makijany argues that the team interacted with several skateboarding communities across India, and couldn’t limit their portrayal to the story of Gond alone. “They would have liked it if [their names] were significantly present. But how could we take away from the 300 girls across the country who we interviewed, and whose lives we saw had changed,” says Vinati, also the film’s writer.
When mid-day interacted with Gond, she confirmed that a scene in the film was lifted off her interaction with the team, without her approval, but adds that her interaction with the makers had been limited to that occasion alone. “If [Gond] could see her life story in the film from the trailer, we celebrate that, because we wanted to make it relatable. I’ve got so many calls from girls across the country, including those from Brazil and Portugal, saying they could relate to the story. The film is not based on one person or instance,” Makijany signs off.
Ulrike Reinhard and Manjari Makijany
I wanted the music to be minimalistic in Skater Girl-Salim Merchant
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Film about skateboarding Rajasthani village girl called for minimalist musical intervention to keep story the hero, says composer Salim Merchant
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; June 14, 2021)
Late actor Mac Mohan’s daughter Manjari Makijany made her feature film directorial debut with the Friday release, 'Skater Girl', based on a rural teenager’s life-changing experience when she discovers her passion for skate-boarding. Offsetting the rustic ambience of the film with a soundtrack that’s contemporary and upbeat, composer Salim Merchant sheds light on creative decisions taken during its making.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
Given the array of projects you are currently working in, not all of which are associated to cinema, what drew you to this film?
[Sulaiman and I] like to explore genres that we haven’t dabbled in, because there’s always a wealth of knowledge to acquire from such projects. 'Skater Girl' has so many layers; it’s about skate-boarding, and also the caste system. We had to interplay the struggles of the other protagonist, an American woman, Jasmine, played by Amy Maghera, as well. When you have to inculcate all these emotions within the music, it makes for an interesting task. Creating music for cinema is an evolved process, and a beautiful one.
I have worked with the director and writer, sisters Manjari and Vinati Makijany respectively, on a short film in 2015. The Corner Table was directed by Manjari. Vinati acted in it with Tom Alter. I knew then that these two sisters will go ahead and achieve their dreams. When I saw ['Skater Girl'], there was no doubt [that I wanted to be part of it]. I got emotionally involved, even when it had no music. I wanted the music to be minimalistic. The storyteller had already captured the emotions well, and music could spoil it. I didn’t want that, and so, tried to do as little as possible.
But the team felt we should try making a song, and a few sections for the skate-boarding sequences. So we did. And they sounded so good that Manjari and Vinati got greedy. The other number, Mari Chhalangein, comes at a point when the film, until then, is at a low point, and needs a lift. This track brings in a sense of euphoria. Since the film is in two languages, I knew it would also be nice to have the song in English and Hindi.
How did you arrive at the singers for the tracks?
Raja Kumari is someone I have been wanting to work with for a while. She’s a good singer and has been on my radar. The person I wanted for another song was Bhanvari Devi. She recorded the track, and I liked it, but Manjari was keen to have a younger voice render it. We couldn’t find a young girl, so we found a young boy, Mohmmad Fazil, who sounded like a girl. For Mari Chhalangein, I knew it had to be Sharvi [Yadav]. She has a pop-rock voice, and belts out her songs [strongly].
Why was the decision to limit traditional folk elements taken?
I wanted a Rajasthani flavour since it has been shot in a village. But Manjari urged me to stay away from that. With the contemporary pop-rock vibe that we created — only employing a [traditional] voice to support it — we were able to create a soundtrack that will be more palatable for the audience consuming it on Netflix. Adding Rajasthani flavour would not have been bad, but I don’t miss it when I see the film.
Image: Waheeda Rehman shoots in Udaipur after 54 years
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Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; August 16, 2019)
Veteran actress Waheeda Rehman will next be seen in the international film Desert Dolphin, which is based on skateboarding. The film, which is co-written by Vinaty Makijany, marks the directorial debut of Manjari Makijany, and is set in the rustic village of Khempur near Udaipur, Rajasthan. Vinaty and Manjari are yesteryear actor Mac Mohan’s daughters. The most interesting part, however, is the fact that Waheeda Rehman has returned to shoot in Udaipur after 54 years. She last shot in the ‘City of Lakes’ for Guide (1965). Feeling nostalgic about shooting in Udaipur, the actress says, “I have come to Udaipur after a very long time. I remember that when we were shooting for Guide, we had stayed at the Lake Palace Hotel. I was pleasantly surprised when the makers of this film organised a trip to the Palace, where I could relive those memories.”
Talking about coming on board for an independent project, she shares, “I have never thought of a project as big or small. I have always wanted to and have been experimenting. But in my 60-year-long career, I have never said yes to a project so quickly. To my knowledge, this is also the first time that I am working with a female director.”
Mac Mohan's daughters Manjari and Vinati enter Bollywood with India's first film on skateboarding
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The 14,500 sq ft skate park built by the duo near Udaipur
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 17, 2019)
Arre O Sambha..., the character from Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay, played by the late Mac Mohan, remains memorable even after four decades. Now, Mirror has learnt that his daughters Manjari (writer-director) and Vinati Makijany (co-writer-producer) are all set to make India’s first feature film on skate-boarding, titled Desert Dolphin.Manjari may be making her B-Town debut with the film, but she is not new to the world of cinema. The LA-based filmmaker has worked for nearly 12 years, directed three short films and won several awards nationally and internationally. She has worked with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan on Dunkirk and The Dark Knight Rises, Patty Jenkins on Wonder Woman and Vishal Bhardwaj on Saat Khoon Maaf, besides other projects like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Wake Up Sid and Gandhi of the Month.
For her debut, she chose to come back home and make a film with women empowerment at its core. Set in a remote village in Rajasthan, Desert Dolphin is about 16-year-old Prerna, a village girl who finds courage to skate against all odds when her path crosses that of Jessica, 34, a graphic artist from Los Angeles who’s looking for deeper joy in life. For the film, the makers have made India’s largest skatepark, spread across 14,500 square feet with 100 ramps, in the Khempur village near Udaipur with the help of premiere skatepark specialists and the skateboard coaching group HolyStoked Collective.
With skateboarding officially entering the Olympics in 2020 and with no other park of this calibre and design in India, the team hopes that it will serve as a local and international training ground for future champions and add to the growing trend of skate-boarding in the country.
Manjari, who was exposed to the skateboarding culture during her time in LA, says that it was a video of the sport transforming lives in a small Madhya Pradesh village that grabbed her attention. “Upon further research and meeting the skaters there, I realised the concept was inspired by Skateistan in Afghanistan. This led me to dig deeper and I began my research in September 2016, immersing myself in the correlation between skating and social change,” she says.
Vinati, who is producing the film, asserts that the idea was to involve as many real skateboarders as possible in the project. “During auditions, we reached out to the skateboarding communities in India. I travelled to Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, villages in Rajasthan and Mumbai and spent a few days workshopping with over 3000 kids,” she signs off.
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