I am a fashion model, a TV presenter, an actor,

and I'm also a karate champion from India.

(COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2015 GOLD MEDALLIST)

(SAKF GAMES 2017 BRONZE MEDALLIST)

(MISS INDIA 2000 FINALIST)

I call upon the youth of the world in Tokyo, Japan,

to celebrate the games of the 32nd Olympiad.

Finally, Karate is coming to Tokyo Olympics 2020.

You know, for me, an Olympics 2020 is like a dream.

(SHAKTI - INDIA'S SUPER WOMAN)

I'm born and brought up in Mumbai.

I always was a little tomboy.

A major part of my life has been when I was in

NCC Army Wing because my first career choice was

to be in the army.

But while I was in college my friends just forced me

into just sending across my Miss India form

and as a surprise package,

I was a finalist, and from there on

the offers just kept pouring in, and I was a model!

(KARATE CENTRE)

My love for sport had kind of taken a back seat.

I told my friend, I said,

"Why don't I just come and see your session one day?"

Because they were doing karate.

And I went there

and my sir is, like,

hitting them really hard on their stomach,

on their legs.

It's called conditioning.

And I just knew it that day,

that I want to be as powerful as these boys

and I wanted to join karate.

I thought after looking at this, she may say,

"Why am I getting into all this beating stuff?

"I'll be not able to walk on the ramp and do anything.

"My nose and face is broken."

I thought that she may not come, but she joined.

When I started karate, for me, it was a big challenge

between my glamour world and karate as a sport,

because it's such a contrasting career.

Every single time I go to a fashion show,

and I come back and I realise, "Oh, my God!"

It is a shift mentally, it is a shift physically.

Karate had made her fitter,

agility, focus, the discipline.

I've seen so many girls and boys getting nervous,

seeing so many people.

For her it was a benefit.

Being a model,

she performs more when there are more people.

My mum and dad are from Karnataka, Mangalore.

We are a community called the Bunt community.

(SANDHYA'S PARENTS' HOME)

I speak a language called Tulu. (BUNTS: A HINDU, PATRIARCHAL,

CONSERVATIVE COMMUNITY FROM COASTAL SOUTH WEST INDIA)

It has no script, so it's just a spoken language.

(TULU - SPOKEN BY 2 MILLION PEOPLE IN INDIA)

My father is a businessman and my mum is a housewife.

All the success I have achieved in karate

is because of my parents' belief in me.

Because they are so simple,

there's hardly any parent who have given

so much trust and affection.

She hasn't left out any game. She's played kabaddi as well.

And she stood first in that too.

I told her, "OK, play whatever you like."

And, moreover, it's for India.

If you earn name and fame for the country, it's good.

Our children should move forward.

In my house, we were four - my two brothers, my sister and me.

I'm the youngest.

In South Indian families you always notice that men

somehow are given that priority and they always

are people who are doing the outside work.

(SANDHYA'S NIECE AND NEPHEWS)

And as a kid I always told my mum

that I would rather be out like a man.

What are you hiding behind? What's that?

We have a surprise for you.

- Surprise? - Yes.

Wow, this is so cool!

"Karate Girl Miss Sandhya Shetty."

Sandhya Shetty is a perfect role model for

all the women in India. (KARATE REFEREE)

Looking to the situation in our country, the way

the girls are being harassed, molested,

each and every girl should learn martial arts.

(SELF-DEFENCE WORKSHOP AT MUNICIPAL SCHOOL.)

We will come together as friends,

and do this session today.

As a child, every girl at some point has gone through,

some kind of molestation.

It's amazing that how big that ratio is, and how much

we're not aware of that.

(ONE IN EVERY TWO CHILDREN IN INDIA BETWEEN THE AGE OF

12-18 IS A VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE,

ACCORDING TO WORLD VISION INDIA)

And I have also been a victim of that, and today I...

..I love to talk about it because, you know,

for the longest time we all keep it within us.

And self-defence is something that

our girls need to learn, not only to feel safe for

oneself, but also for the family.

And, when you feel physically strong,

I have felt it,

after doing karate I've learnt to say, "No."

"Kara" - empty hand. Karate means "empty hand."

If she has to score,

she has to go with the same intensity,

the way she's going to punch anybody on the road.

But, the only thing is, she has to control.

Only skin touch.

I'm going to basically show you my favourite moves.

We start with a punch and you go on the stomach or the chest.

On the other side, now I'll do a face punch.

For the kick, it's a mawashi geri,

and uda mawashi geri.

Once we had gone for one tournament.

There were no girls in her category to participate.

I just asked her,

"Are you willing to fight with the guys?"

So, she willingly said, "Yes, fine."

So I said, "Fine, at least she'll get one or two rounds

"to practise."

There were about 35 to 40 people

in that category that day.

The starting turning point that I concentrated on her

was she won the tournament in the guys' category.

In 2007, for the first time,

my karate sir told me to compete,

and I was like, "Oh, my God!"

I thought that he's really lost it because...

But, on his insistence, I just went there and I was, like,

a double gold medallist.

(MAHARASHTRA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 - GOLD MEDALLIST)

And, post that,

I haven't stopped my journey for a single year.

(SAKF GAMES 2017 - BRONZE MEDALLIST)

(NATIONAL KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP, GOA, 2017 - GOLD MEDALLIST)

(COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2015 - FINAL MATCH)

This is one of the most crucial fights.

I was fighting a New Zealander.

And, you can see, very, very, attacking mode, both of us.

Oh, that was a very tough tournament for her

because she got Australia,

she got New Zealand, she got Sri Lanka.

All these were the top girls to go through.

And she did it. That was really...

I'm getting gooseflesh now.

There's so much pressure for the country to win a medal,

and we both are not ready to let go.

There you go - one punch straight on the face,

this is the scoring point.

Commonwealth gold medal for India 2015.

I've been through a lot to be here.

Of course, I have a lot of pressure from my parents,

my family.

You know, they all keep saying,

"So, Sandhya, when are you getting married?"

And I always tell my parents that, you know,

your daughter has achieved much more.

In our society,

if somebody like me who's made to feel little

just because I'm not married,

or just because I don't have kids, I just

wonder about all these girls who are not so privileged.

(THE AVERAGE AGE OF INDIAN WOMEN FOR MARRIAGE IS 19.2)

Our problem in India,

is that after 21-22 the girl gets married.

After marriage, she's finished.

She's not participating any more.

(ONLY 25% OF INDIA'S OLYMPIC MEDALS WERE WON BY WOMEN)

I feel somewhere,

I could have been better

If I would have got support off the Government,

off the Federation (MEDAL EVENT)

and some sponsors in a much more stronger way.

Every single year, I would,

you know, go for my modelling assignments,

my acting assignments, earn X amount of money,

and I would divert all the funds into my karate.

You won't believe, sometimes in the

tournament or in the class,

she has fractured her leg or something.

And I came to know that next day she has gone for ramp walk!

My focus was so much on trying to

balance everything, and there were so many times when

I wanted to go and attend an international competition

but I didn't go because there was no sponsor,

there was no government help.

In one of the years,

when I was selected as a top Asian probable...

..you know, I left entire year.

And, taking a break for one year means

you are out of your career and people tend to forget you.

And, for that one year,

I must have attended multiple camps in karate,

I have broken twice my nose, hairline fracture,

I've broken my left hand,

I've broken multiple times my leg.

Finally,

we're about just one month away

to be leaving for the Asian Games.

And, we come to know that

the whole India team will not be going because of

some paperwork goof up and some Federation problem.

My heart just sank.

I broke down.

I don't think I've ever broken down so badly, because...

..I moved out of my house

because I went into depression.

And I was just staring at my walls.

And, trust me, I cried like a baby that day, because...

..I realised I was going down

and I took this one step that day to get out.

That day, something changed in me.

I said, "Every single time

"I will fall down, I will get up.

Throughout my life, I was dreaming to be an Olympian.

But I did not get that opportunity.

At least, now my student gets an opportunity,

my dream will be fulfilled.

Yes, she's got a very bright chance.

All the women and all the children

in India, will definitely pray for her

to win a gold at the Olympics.

She has our blessings to win and return.

I always feel the participation is great,

but the spirit of winning has to be the focus.

And I think that makes a winner.

(IN RIO 2016,

INDIA'S TWO MEDALS WERE WON BY FEMALE ATHLETES.)

(SHAKTI - INDIA'S SUPER WOMAN)