Rashmi Rocket

Rashmi Rocket is a 2021 Indian Hindi language sports drama film directed by Akarsh Khurana and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. It stars Taapsee Pannu as the titular character alongside Abhishek Banerjee and Priyanshu Painyuli. The film premiered on 15 October 2021 on ZEE5.

Cast

 * Taapsee Pannu as Rashmi Chibber aka Rashmi Rocket, an Indian track and field athlete from Bhuj in Kutch, Gujarat. Competitor at the Indian National Open Athletics Championships, 2014 Asian Games and the 2016 South Asian Games qualifiers. The character is based on several Indian sportswomen who were subject to gender testing due to being diagnosed with hyperandrogenism; such as Dutee Chand and Pinki Pramanik.
 * Priyanshu Painyuli as Captain Gagan Thakur, Indian Army captain (later Major) and Rashmi's husband
 * Abhishek Banerjee as Eeshit Mehta, Rashmi's lawyer
 * Shweta Tripathi as Maya Bhasin
 * Supriya Pathak as Bhanuben Chibber, Rashmi's mother
 * Manoj Joshi as Ramnik Chibber, Rashmi's father, killed in the 2001 Bhuj earthquake
 * Mantra as Coach Tejas Mukherji
 * Supriya Pilgaonkar as Judge Savita Deshpande, judge at the Bombay High Court
 * Miloni Jhonsa as Niharika Chopra, Dilip's daughter who's jealous of Rashmi
 * Namita Dubey as Priyanka Kapoor
 * Varun Badola as Dilip Chopra, Niharika's father and a Senior Selector
 * Boloram Das as Coach
 * Chirag Vora as Nileshbhai Virah Chibber
 * Dharak Chhaya as Kartik Virah Chibber
 * Dhwanish Chhaya as Paresh Virah Chibber
 * Akash Khurana as Dr. Ejaz Qureshi
 * Kshitee Jog as Dr. Jagdish Mahatre
 * Zafar Karachiwala as Mangesh Desai
 * Aseem Jayadev Hattangady as Praveen Sood
 * Umesh Jagtap as Inspector Jagan Sathe
 * Akshay Taksale as Sub-Inspector Jagtap Rana
 * Kritika Bharadwaj as Vaidehi Thakur

Production
The principal photography began in November 2020 at FLAME University in Pune. The film was wrapped up on 26 January 2021 in Gujarat. Shooting locations included Bhuj and the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat as well as Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Amit Trivedi while lyrics written by Kausar Munir.

Critical reception
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost said “Here for a change is a Hindi film that knows how to portray male allies without allowing them to cross the line into male saviour territory. Here for a change is a Hindi film featuring female adversaries sans the all-women-are-enemies-of-women stereotype, and spotting female allies in unexpected places.”

Writing for Scroll, Nandini Ramnath said, “Light on its feet and often as fleet as Rashmi, the movie cruises along on the strength of several heart-warming scenes (many of them involving Rashmi’s tough-loving mother Bhanu), a foot-tapping folksy score by Amit Trivedi, and basic insights into the debate over hyperandrogenism that continues to rage in all manner of sport.”

Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India gave the film four stars and said, “Nanda Periyasamy’s riveting story, Aniruddha Guha’s sharp screenplay and Akarsh Khurana’s able direction, holds your attention right from the beginning until the end, where the race for justice is played out in a court.” About lead actor Taapsee Pannu, the publication said, “Taapsee Pannu once again proves her mettle, embodying Rashmi’s persona, physically and mentally. Her effort to celebrate Rashmi’s victory and endure her pain, is as real as it gets and the actress doesn’t miss the beat when it comes to making us root for her character.”

Shubhra Gupta, in her review of the film in Indian Express, wrote: "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. For keeping sporting women on top, and for the very worthy cause."

In his review for Cinema Express, critic Avinash Ramachandran wrote: "It is brave of Taapsee to do a film where the battle against the system takes paramount importance, and rightly so."

Zee News said in its review that "Akarsh Khurana's Rashmi Rocket has an unconventional storyline that can greatly contribute to conversations around gender equality."

In her review for Mashable, Sushri Saha writes, "With strong performances led by Pannu and a well-written screenplay, the film does justice to the issues it raises and challenges."

Critic Shomini Sen, in her review for WIONews, wrote that Rashmi Rocket “is an important film. It treads on an unknown track and it shines because of its important message.”