Rarely does a film and its director present on an issue faced by young women worldwide, right here on campus.
Punches ‘N’ Ponytails, directed by Pankaj Rishi Kumar, presents the image of two female boxers in India trying to achieve their goals in a sport that is generally considered masculine. Shot over the duration of two and half years, Kumar followed teenagers Kirli and Jama from 2004 to 2007. The film follows their day to day life, showing their training, home life and social life, through their teenage years. Kumar’s idea for the film was sparked years before, while reading a newspaper.
“Way back in 2003, I read a small newspaper blurb talking about an amateur female boxing match. It was the first I have heard of anything of that sort. Normally when you think of boxing, you do not imagine women. Boxing is such a male dominated sport. I was really drawn to develop an understanding and to see how it is to be a woman in a sport like this and how it affects them,” Kumar stated.
Inspired, Kumar attended the national boxing championship where he met Kirli and Jama. For two and a half years Kumar followed these two teenage boxers through strife and triumph.Kirli faces the pressures of her family, which is filled with athletes. She also faces obesity and illness. Jama struggles with proving she can do everything a man can do while staying confident in her sexuality.
As the sixth documentary Kumar has worked with, Punches ‘N’ Ponytails signified something different for him.
“I have done a bunch of films before this but this was a different style of filming. You are following two characters that you never know what could happen next. It’s not like other documentaries I have worked on where it is set out what you plan to directly obtain from making it. It certainly taught me to be a lot more patient in life, as I was part of their day to day life. I was able to see their ups and downs they encounter. I’m still in touch with them today,” Kumar said.
The film changed the way Kumar sees documentaries. It also helped him devolp a better understanding of women and their issues. As a male that hasn’t encountered such issues, coming and focusing in a space of women, he believes he has taken a lot from the experience.
Senior Communication Studies Major Courtney Train, who helped organize the event through the Communications Department, sees real value in the film coming to campus. Having just studied abroad in India, she knows from a firsthand view that female boxing is an image one wouldn’t necessarily see in India.
“I see the importance of this film. To show these women’s worth and desire to do what they do outside of what society expects from them. Acceptance of women sports is still a prevalent issue in our world and it’s something that everyone can see. The smaller coverage and shorter contracts woman athletes receive compared to their male counterparts is astounding. They are even spoken differently by commentators. Going through their struggles as they go through gender, sexuality, and many other deep to heart issues, I’m excited to see and learn from the documentary,” Train said.
Discussing how society glosses over women’s athletic abilities, Train also brought up Mary Kom, an Indian Boxer who is a five-time World Amateur Boxing Champion, the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships.
Showing multiple things that are overlooked by others, Kumar opens up a window to understand a culture and provide a real sense of what it is like to be Indian. Also bringing light to the issues faced by many adolescent girls, Kumar presents many themes and subjects that students could relate to. Kumar himself hopes that everyone who comes will take something important away that one may not be able to find in a Bollywood film. For anyone who is interested in learning more about India or female athletics, don’t miss this prime opportunity.
Kumar will be screening the documentary and holding a discussion afterwards in Beck Hall room 101 on Nov. 4 from 7-9 p.m..
-Dan Vruno