Most sports biopics have managed to garner praise by the audience in the past, be it ‘Dangal’ or ‘Mary Kom’, among numerous examples. Now, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit is all set to make a biopic on Pinki Pramanik – one of the most controversial women athletes, who was accused of being a ‘man’ and was implicated in a ‘rape charge’.
Pinki Pramanik, a woman track and field athlete, was accused of being a man -and implicated in rape charges by her roommate, after 3 years of living together. Upon her arrest, Pinki had to undergo multiple medical examinations to ‘determine her gender’.
She was charged under sections that include ‘rape’, ‘impersonation’, ‘cheating’, ‘assault and intimidation’, and ‘cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of a lawful marriage’. A medical report submitted by the police in a court after investigation, classified Pinki as male in the first test. She was only a 22-year-old girl, when she was locked up in a male prison, forced to share the space with 1000 male inmates. Her subsequent medical tests revealed that she had a rare disorder called ‘male pseudohermaphroditism’, and that in her case, she was found to be ‘incapable of having penetrative sex’, which resulted in her release on bail.
According to Pinki, she regularly administered testosterone injections like other female participants, which eventually resulted in her features to turn manly. The report says that her chromosome pattern may be male, but anatomically, she has both female and male organs, some of which are incomplete. “Male genotype need not mean a man as an ordinary person understands it. Psychologically their desires may be male, but that may not be borne out physically”, according to a report by Firstpost.
Ashoke Pandit will be bringing her story on the big screen. The title of the film has not been announced, yet. The story, written by Priyanka Ghatak, is one of triumph and resilience.
“I wanted the world to know the injustice and the horror I went through. I totally trust Ashokeji’s production that it will do total justice to my story with respect,” said Pramanik.
Ashoke Pandit is a well-known filmmaker, who is also known for his critically acclaimed documentaries highlighting various sensitive issues of the Kashmir region, including a documentary on forced exodus and massacre of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-1991 and another one detailing the hardships of Dardpura village in Kashmir. He made his voice heard through films, and shed a light on the atrocities endured by the Kashmiri Pandit families. Similarly, Pinki and her supporters would expect a masterpiece from Ashoke Pandit, hoping to shed light on the humiliation and troubles Pinki had to go through, during her difficult times.