Kymaia’s winter vacation with Mr Baba got extended by two days.
We decided to spend it watching a movie with Aaji.
The choice? Shabaash Mithu.
A biopic on Mithali Raj, one of India’s greatest cricketers.
She led the Indian team from 2004 to 2022 and is the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket.
The film was the usual fare.
Child prodigy.
Restrictions at home for being a girl who loved cricket.
A competitive brother.
A tough coach.
A promising start.
Obstacles.
Crises.
The dark night of the soul.
Realisation.
Redemption.
The typical three-act structure.
Entertaining, though.
A sincere, mostly honest attempt.
The performances were middling.
Editing, music, and action were mediocre.
But still, it worked.
At least for a 10-year-old.
Throughout the movie, the protagonist, Mithu, faces rejection, mockery, and outright cruelty.
Kymaia, of course, noticed this.
A 10-year-old understands unfairness.
She empathised with Mithu’s struggles.
What caught me off guard was this:
She barely reacted when men dismissed or mocked Mithu.
But when women behaved badly?
There was a visible recoil.
“Why are they being rude to her, Mr Baba?”
There was confusion.
Even anger.
As if she expected women to support each other by default.
It was fascinating.
At 10, a girl already knows the world owes her little.
She expects even less from men.
But from women?
She expects, indeed insists on, solidarity.
It was both eye-opening and heartbreaking.
A stark reminder of how the world fails women.
Even when they make up half of it.
It just isn’t cricket, is it?
Two observations (unrelated):
- I had forgotten what it feels like to discover something for the first time. When Kymaia exclaimed, “Baba, did you know that England also plays cricket?” I could only laugh. “After the movie, look up ‘Cricket’ on Wikipedia. Girl, are you going to be surprised!”
- She watches movies (or indeed consumes all art) like I do. Fully immersed. Focused. Zero tolerance for interruptions. No talking. No distractions. Nothing but the story. She is going to be irritatingly impossible to watch films with. Just like her father is.
