Swarali Karulkar has spent her life grappling with the possibilities and limitations of her body. Raised in India, she began her career as a dancer and choreographer, finding success on and off screen after winning multiple reality competition shows. In 2014, Karulkar moved to New York, getting a master’s degree in Dance Movement Therapy as she fostered her new passion. She formed the Goddess Synergy Movement, leading workshops that build community and navigate the connection between the emotional and the physical. In the ambitious documentary short Body Unveiled, Karulkar reflects on her past as she seeks to help other women find liberation in their own bodies.
Karulkar’s childhood was marked by tragedy, experiencing long-term sexual abuse at a young age. While she didn’t understand it at the time, as she grew older, Karulkar began to recognize the ways in which that trauma manifested inside of her physically. Dancing gave her control, allowing her to shed her anxieties and focus on the power of her own body. Studying Dance Movement Therapy helped Karulkar to process her personal struggles and helped her learn to actively transform that pain through movement. She in turn wants to share that sense of connection and empowerment with the world through her workshops. She seeks to teach women to overcome their insecurities and feel sexy and strong through movement exercises, revealing conversation, and shared rituals.
Karulkar and co-director Ishq Pradhan have taken a formally inventive approach to their documentary, forgoing a traditional linear narrative for a more scattershot look at Karulkar’s life and work. The film weaves together archival film, interviews, observational footage of her workshops from around the world, and striking movement sequences to build a thorough understanding of the Goddess Synergy Movement. Karulkar is an inviting subject, charismatic and approachable as she welcomes the audience into her world. The power of her work is best demonstrated by the people we meet in her workshops. We get snapshots of these women, tracking their emotional journeys through brief moments. While only some share details of their painful histories, each “goddess” featured finds some measure of catharsis, transformed by Karulkar’s warm and caring guidance. One woman is spotlighted because she’s curled in on herself while standing, legs and arms crossed, as if to close herself off from the rest of the room. Held by Karulkar, she admits that this position is her default, borne of a lifetime of insecurity. Over the course of her session, the woman blossoms, and we see her joy as she dances freely in the middle of her group. We see the movement in action, participants putting words to their trauma in order to move past it. As they strut and dance their way across different dance studios, these women seem lighter, effervescent as they’re released from the burden of their past.
In trying to cover such a substantial subject in 20 minutes, some elements can feel a little unfinished. The film opens with bold imagery and a strong dose of tension, Karulkar’s voiceover accompanying a haunting series of images and the reverberating sound of a heartbeat. However, that tense tone is soon set aside, at odds with the warm introduction Karulkar then gives to the audience. The movement interludes were crafted to represent the physical toll that trauma takes on the body, but they peter off without a clear conclusion as the film shifts focus to the workshops and their participants.
The documentary’s technical elements work together to create an immersive atmosphere, reflecting the energy of the Goddess Synergy Movement. Safiyah Chiniere’s cinematography is deeply intimate, focusing its attention on the human body. As Karulkar is interviewed, the camera stays close, lingering on her movements as she seems to dictate the framing. Kevin Watkins, the film’s audio engineer, has also done lovely work in emphasizing the Movement’s supportive energy, building a rich and layered soundtrack to underscore Karulkar’s introduction to her work. From poignant instrumentals to joyous percussion-heavy music, Watkins perfectly matches the tone.
In a Goddess Synergy Movement session, Karulkar explains to the participants, “your body is always communicating to you what you are feeling.” She, Pradhan, and their creative team take bold swings in bringing that sentiment to life, inviting us into our own educational session. Karulkar encourages us to listen to our bodies while simultaneously illustrating the impact she has already made on a wide community of people. Through Body Unveiled, Karulkar has found a way to move us through the power of movement.
