Khayali Pulao review: Understated tussle for a flight of fancy to become reality

Freedom means different things to different people. For a teenage girl in a patriarchal society, it may mean having the right to choose what to do or wear without judgement. Tarun Dudeja’s short film Khayali Pulao takes us into the heart of a conservative society in Haryana, where women's desires and dreams are stifled in different ways.

Asha is a class topper and model student. One day, when the sports teacher announces that they are looking to put together a handball team, Asha is spurred to join them. Everyone, from classmates and teacher to her parents and even coach, tries to figure out what has got into her, as Asha starts training so that she is good enough to be part of the team.

Deemed too slow and unfit to be a player, she tries for the position of goalkeeper, practising every day so that she can improve her skills and reflexes. Everyone tells her she isn’t right for the sport, that she isn’t good enough, but that only spurs Asha to try harder.

Khayali Pulao is a simple story and it is the milieu that makes it stand out, with the details of village life that are captured by the filmmaker. Gender bias is deeply ingrained and while the village has slogans like ‘Beta Beti Ek Samaan’, meaning sons and daughters are alike, painted on the walls, they ring hollow as the reality is vastly different. A girl merely wearing a pair of jeans becomes such a sensational topic in the village that Asha knows the only way she can get to wear the things she wants is through a legitimate and formidable reason. As the internet opens the world up to youngsters in small towns and villages, their desire to be like the rest of the world is also stoked.

The film explores the importance of sports and the way women's sports are systematically neglected even though they offer a positive avenue for building self-confidence and exploring different paths.

What also makes the film work are the strong performances by YouTube star Prajakta Koli as Asha and Yashpal Sharma as the coach, Kharab sir. Koli especially shines as the girl yearning to turn a flight of fancy into reality.