Vijayeta Kumar on her documentary film Kicking Balls: ‘This story needed to be told’

Filmmaker Vijayeta Kumar’s documentary film ‘Kicking Balls’ won the Youth Vision award at the 25th United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF), California, Best Documentary Short Film at the New York Indian Film Festival, Best Director (Shorts) at the DFW South Asian Film Festival, and Best Sound Design at the Mumbai International Film Festival. The documentary film produced by Gunnet Monga and Ashvini Yardi is now streaming on Prasar Bharti’s OTT app WAVES. In a conversation with Cine Blitz, Vijayeta opened up about the film’s journey.

Was there a definite moment when you decided to tell this story?

Vijayeta Kumar: I am from Ajmer. I saw the girls playing football which is not a common sight. There’s a girl in the film named Ani. Ani had just filed for an annulment. Her in-laws were harassing her and threatening to kidnap her. Ani wanted to fight her own battle and didn’t want anyone supporting her. She protected her parents. So, talking to her was the moment when I decided to tell this story. This girl was not from a privileged background and she decided to fight an entire village. It was very inspiring.

Take us through the process of identifying the other girls we see in the documentary.

Vijayeta Kumar: I researched for five to six months before I pitched the film to Sikhya Entertainment. In those 5-6 months, being from Ajmer was a big help. These girls knew where I was coming from and got comfortable with me. We became friends with many girls who shared their stories. We saw what they were doing, up close. We were cheering for them and trying to help them. When I told them I wanted to make a film about them, they were very surprised. They thought that it [playing football against all odds] was no big deal. They were just living their lives. They couldn’t see what I saw – this story needed to be told.

But once the producers were on board and we started the process of shooting, the girls were very excited. At that time, there were 200-odd girls playing football. Obviously, we couldn’t feature all of them. So, we went with the ones who were comfortable and there were no problems from their families. Some families were against it, so we didn’t force them.

Was it challenging to make the girls speak openly on camera about their lives?

Vijayeta Kumar: I developed a rapport with the girls. Also, I had an all-women crew during the shooting. When we were shooting inside homes, I didn’t want it to be crowded. We were a crew of about 9 women and 2-3 men. It was not so challenging to make the girls speak. There were certain things they didn’t want to share at all and I let it be.

The title Kicking Balls is a pun on patriarchy. How did you come up with the title?

Vijayeta Kumar: Of course, it is. It was obvious. It’s right there. It’s about football – you kick a ball. So, Kicking Balls came naturally. However, the title came much later. Initially, we didn’t have any title even when we were shooting. When we started editing and post-production, there came a time when we needed to give it a name. That’s when we came up with Kicking Balls.

The girls were onboard and so were the producers. But filmmaking is a tedious task. Was there anything else that posed challenges?

Vijayeta Kumar: We were shooting in Rajasthan in June in scorching heat. Our cameras used to overheat because we were shooting outdoors all the time. I had never faced that challenge before. We had to shut down the cameras for some time before we could resume shooting. We shot with the Sony FS7 camera and sometimes, I also shot with my iPhone. We sometimes used a Canon as well. We had a limited budget and all sorts of things were going on so I couldn’t afford three cinematographers.

Kicking Balls won many awards at film festivals across the world. How much do these awards help the film? Also, how does a filmmaker benefit from this?

Vijayeta Kumar: Awards and film festivals help only with visibility. There are few platforms for documentaries so film festivals allow you to show your film to an audience. Showing your film to an audience is the priority. Awards are secondary. We screened the film at many film festivals. The audience then spreads the word on social media or whatever. That gives your film visibility.

What kind of reactions did you get at the film festival screenings?

Vijayeta Kumar: At the screening at Stanford University as a part of the United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF), I came to know that a lot of child marriages happen even in America. The audience at Stanford told me that child marriages happen worldwide. There are states in the US where the legal age of marriage is 13 or something. A lot of people are trying to fight against that.

Even in India, many people are not aware of the reality of child marriages. They have a vague idea about child marriages. We never really get to see the reality of it and how people are trying to fight it.

Ashvini Yardi, one of our producers, produced the TV show Balika Vadhu. The sole reason she came on board for Kicking Balls was that she believed and supported this cause.

What are your upcoming projects?

Vijayeta Kumar: I am working on a feature film right now. We are at the casting stage. Kicking Balls is my first documentary. Before that, I have done fiction only. I will probably make another documentary if I find a subject as compelling as this one.