Experiencing Interruptions?

Kick and Tell

There is rampant child marriage in Ajmer district of Rajasthan.

A saathin (social worker) called Bhanwari Devi was raped when she tried stopping a caste hindu child marriage. She was dalit and the rapists were caste hindu.

Many years later Haq Centre for Child Rights and Mahila an Adhikar Samiti who engaged with the children of many villages in this area, decided to introduce Football. This game they felt would break many gender stereotypes. Girls who had till then been shy, home bound and never played with any toys were given football. The girls agreed to play and convince their parents and the village. The game of football disturbed many people in the villages. In Hasiawas village the teachers hated to see girls playing in shots. The grannies would take their grand daughters back from the field. They feared that the girls will runaway with some boys. They feared that these girls will not get married. Some teachers in the village school also insisted that the kids will fail in their exams.
The girls kicked patriarchy of many a kind and kept playing. The game united them and become inclusive. The game of football instilled in them discipline.
The Football players of Hasiawas not only played well some of them got chosen for the junior nationals. Many others excelled in exams.
Most of all the girls stopped attending child marriages. They also convinced their village that child marriage was a regressive custom.

  • Rukmini Sen
    Director
    Shame
  • Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti (MJAS), HAQ Centre for Child Rights
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    34 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 4, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    1,332 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Rukmini Sen

Rukmini Sen is an independent journalist, filmmaker and Television content creator.

Rukmini is the Managing Editor of news website Media Vigil. She has co-written a Hindi feature film called Shame. She has been an Editor with some of the leading news channels of India like AajTak, Star News and Anand Bazar Patrika . She has also developed content as Associate Vice President at Star Network and Cinestaan Films.

Rukmini is interested in geopolitics, gender and sexuality, sports and mental health

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Growing up in India as a girl child can be challenging. Especially in areas where child marriage is acceptable. The emphasis is on honour of the family and ensuring that both boys and girls will not choose their own partners. That the marriage will be in one's own caste, community and religion.

I got a chance to meet with with many married children in 2018 . This was when I was documenting stories for a french film. It is then that I realized that although both the genders suffer in child marriage it is the girl child who is stopped from venturing out of home after marriage.

The girl child's education is often stopped after she starts cohabiting with her husband and in-laws. She is expected to work like a house help. This is the status of a girl child in many parts of India. She has no say in family matters.

However, change is inevitable. I saw a glimmer of hope when I met with the activists of Mahila Jan Adhikar Samiti and HAQ Centre for Child Rights. They had realized that sedentary school education was not enough for girls. Something has to change physically. Something the villages in Rajasthan don't expect to see in their girls. Like run. Run like girls. Run better than the boys. Play. Demand to play as a right.

I strongly felt that the girls must tell their stories of kicking deep rooted misogyny of their society. I needed to tell this story because these girls wouldn't let me sit in peace otherwise. They had kicked and they needed to tell the world about it.

So I reached Ajmer yet again in 2018 and 2019 to research, befriend and document this tale of football. Needless to say the resources were less but when has that stopped story tellers?

The girls of Hasiawas played football. It happened after long negotiations and engagements with parents, grand parents, teachers, coaches and most of all with themselves. And then with the power of football they have changed the mindset of their village. Some of them have qualified for Junior Nationals. And all of them have brought the boys of the village on their side to stop child marriage. Wouldn't you have wanted to tell this story?