ACE ARCHER DEEPIKA KUMARI
WWhy don’t they say ‘ladies first’ in education and sports?” asks ace archer Deepika Kumari in the documentary Ladies First (Netflix). “I think men are scared of our freedom and that they will be left behind.” Kumari may not be a celebrity like sportswomen P.V. Sindhu or Sania Mirza but her accomplishments are no less impressive. At 18, she was already the world No. 1 in recurve archery; in 2012, she won two Commonwealth Games gold medals and in 2016 she tied the world record. Inspired by the Jharkhand girl’s humble background and her difficult journey to the top, realtor and first-time filmmaker Uraaz Bahl follows Kumari through the months leading up to and immediately following the Rio Olympics in 2016. The result is a 40-minute film which focuses more on Kumari’s origins story than demonstrating her impressive exploits on the field.
Not that the roots aren’t worth visiting. Kumari travels to her village, Ratu, narrating memories both fun (stealing vegetables from the field) and unhappy
(her uncle openly admits to beating her mother,
Geeta Devi, for daring to work). It’s here that the film’s most dramatic moments emerge such as when Kumari stops her auto driver father, Shiv Narayan, from sweeping a street or when she talks about how she had to break free from the conservative society she grew up in. If she didn’t leave Ratu, she adds, she would have been married by 18. Instead, at 12, Kumari enrolled in an academy in Seraikella to be less of a financial burden to her parents. A year later, she was selected for the famed Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur. There’s been no looking back.
Access isn’t an issue for Bahl here but he is still unable to reach out and get a candid portrait. Missing is a deeper understanding of Kumari’s emotional struggles in rising to the biggest occasion, the Olympics, and insight on what she’s like from peers such as Dola Banerjee, Bombayla Devi or her friends. The film emphasises the need for a mental coach for sportspeople but only briefly touches on how poor planning and bureaucracy can hamper careers. Ladies First concludes with a vulnerable Kumari talking about how she feels compelled to fare well at the Olympics to feel that she is treasured. If there’s one takeaway here, it is that we need to be more considerate of achievers from sports who don’t get much coverage. With the film, at least, Kumari is no
longer unseen.