Rashmi Rocket movie review: When you see Taapsee Pannu’s Rashmi fighting the good fight, for herself and for other athletes who have been done against in similar fashion, you want to cheer.
At an interesting juncture in the film, a testy judge asks a lawyer with a tinge of sarcasm, ‘Aap Hindi film bahut dekhte hain kya? Asliyat mein courtroom mein itna high drama nahin hota.’ (Do you watch too many Hindi films? In reality, there’s not so much drama in courtrooms). The statement is an exact match for the tone of ‘Rashmi Rocket’, a film about a female athlete who runs the gauntlet of peer jealousy, institutional patriarchy, and an archaic gender test in her quest for the top.
The film takes its major plot point from the real-life story of Dutee Chand, who was disqualified after she was found to have excessive testosterone (hyperandrogenism) after she won a race. Chand’s struggle to have her suspension removed so that she could compete again is well-documented, making it a great subject for a film, even one which has, according to the opening credits, ‘fictionalised the characters, circumstances and situations by way of cinematic liberty’.