About the Documentary

84 kms from the national capital, into the wild west of Uttar Pradesh lies district Baghpat. Around 20 years ago, one of the biggest revolutions in Indian shooting began in Johri, a village in the midst of lush sugarcane fields and scattered brick fields of Baghpat. Back in the 90’s, when dacoity was already rampant in the region and easy access to country made pistol had made the situation worse, Dr. Rajpal Singh, a Johri native decided to drag the youth to the shooting range to divert their attention from mindless drag to shooting as a sport. 20 years later, another revolution is at hand in Johri and its adjacent regions, where most of the young girls are taking up shooting as a sport.

Our documentary ‘Baghpat ke Baghi’ will portray the lives of these girls from Baghpat who are breaking the shackles of patriarchy by picking up guns and making it big at various international competitions.

Doli Jatav, a 10-year-old girl who comes from a Dalit family and is the daughter of a seasonal laborer is one of the two main characters of our documentary. Her caste and economic circumstances are making it difficult for her to pursue such an expensive sport.

Our documentary will also explore the transformation or the challenges faced by a girl who has lived all her life in a village and suddenly is placed in an urban lifestyle in Delhi through our second character, who is Varsha Tomar, 31. She also comes from the shooting academy at Johri but now trains and lives in Faridabad. In 2012, Varsha divorced her husband because of increased demands of dowry. She says that shooting gave her the courage and the confidence to take such a step.

Apart from taking up the gender issue, we will also tackle the caste problem in one of the most caste volatile region in the country. The documentary will also focus on the class privilege around shooting as a sport, which is traditionally considered to be an expensive sport. We will also explore the dimensions of what does it take to pursue a sport like shooting, particularly when you cannot afford it.

Author: Ayesha Khan