“Whatever happened in the past, we can’t change it. But nothing should happen in the future.”
A line spoken in the documentary Pink Belt that, even though it’s fairly simple, managed to stay with me for a few days. Not always a victim from a tragic past is able to look back and see what happened with enough disdain that the future is clearer. Still, the one woman who spoke that line convinced me that human resilience is untested and unlimited.
Aparna Rajawat is a hero. It doesn’t matter what values you grew up with, her kindness is contagious enough to make you think of a better world. However, it wasn’t always easy for her. Growing up among male brothers in India didn’t represent a great future for Aparna. Flying kites was a game for boys and she wasn’t able to play. However, she radically cut her hair and decided enough was enough: she took karate lessons in order to defend herself.
From what? The country Aparna grew up in, as religiously unique as some would say, India is an extremely violent society towards women. Aparna decided she didn’t want to be another iteration of the several violent crimes committed against women because they’re… women. She didn’t want to be a servant as other girls were, and she became India’s national champion in martial arts. Now, a grown woman, she has taken her mission one step further.
John McCrite directs Aparna’s journey to fulfill her mission: she wants to break the Guinness record for “most women trained in a self-defense lesson.” How exactly she will do this is entirely secondary to her cause. In fact, while Aparna may see the huge karate lesson as potentially impossible, we are already engaged with what she’s trying to accomplish. It’s impossible not to follow her lead, even if viewers are geographically distant from the society perfectly portrayed by McCrite.
The film is a great study of character, one that’s so vast in emotion that it may feel overwhelming to sometimes ride along. Aparna’s encounter with reality is focused on the idea of breaking the record, but after an intimate encounter with one of her friends, we are able to see the human side of that superhero we sometimes fail to admire. Well, not anymore.
Pink Belt is a great portrait of something that isn’t a secret. We just discard it because India is a remote place. However, McCrite comments on the great injustices that transcend the distance and force the viewer to have a necessary conversation that some may find uncomfortable: It’s better represented when Aparna visits a center where women gather to deal with trauma. Her faces scarred after acid attacks are the symbols of a secretive practice we need to recognize as real. Their words will leave you speechless, but her courage in showing themselves is breathtaking.
I know Aparna Rajawat does not want viewers to challenge the very roots of a culture she’s part of, but she made me question the foundation of something that needs to be taken down: India needs to change its vision of women, and anyone who challenges this point should fight Rajawat and be knocked out.
Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.
