Coming-of-age sagas aren’t always about surviving adolescence or the angst-laden teen years; sometimes the focus concerns finding one’s bliss.
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| Although initially frightened by this new "toy," Prerna (Rachel Saanchita Gupta) soon becomes infatuated with her skateboard, thanks to help from her little brother Ankush (Shafin Patel). |
Teenage Prerna (Rachel Saanchita Gupta, in a deeply touching acting debut) lives a grinding, joyless life in a remote village in Rajasthan, India. Her expression, her very bearing, is resigned and withdrawn. Smiles are infrequent; she’s old enough to realize that her future holds little — if anything — beyond an arranged marriage and then remaining within this same poverty-laden community.
The one bright spark is her mischievous little brother, Ankush (Shafin Patel), whose effervescence is impossible to ignore. He can draw a rare grin from Prerna, because he isn’t old enough to understand the notion of limitations. Indeed, he’s puzzled by the fact that he shouldn’t mix with the upper-class students at his school.
The dynamic shifts with the arrival of Jessica (Amy Maghera), a London-bred advertising exec who wants to learn more about her late father’s childhood. All the children find her a fascinating novelty; their parents regard her with wary suspicion. Jessica is charmed (as are we) by the resourcefulness with which these children fabricate playthings from scrap material, particularly in the case of Ankush’s rudimentary skateboard.
Jessica, trying hard to tread carefully, is relieved by the unexpected arrival of Erick (Jonathan Readwin), an unabashed free spirit who literally cruises into the village on a skateboard. A real skateboard.
The children — particularly Ankush — are goggle-eyed.
Even Prerna is curious.
Jessica, sensing a means to curry favor, arranges for several cartons of skateboards and parts to be delivered to the village. Although the kids are overjoyed, their infatuation with this new sport becomes all-encompassing, to the detriment of everything else. This does not endear Jessica and Erick to the older villagers: particularly the local schoolmaster, whose classroom suddenly is mostly empty.
Some sort of (ahem) balance becomes necessary.
At the same time, Prerna’s growing interest worries and annoys her father, Ramkesh (Ambarish Saxena), who bitingly asks, “Why are you playing with things meant for boys?”
