Ameya Gore’s Going Solo, on Indian cyclists at LEL, shown at IDSFFK 2026

Pune-based filmmaker Ameya Gore’s 70-minute documentary Going Solo, which follows Indian cyclists Gareema Shankar and Renu Singhi at the London-Edinburgh-London (LEL) event in 2022, has been reported in connection with the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam; the article was published on September 30, 2026.

The film chronicles two women with distinct origin stories and was produced by Sharib Khan and Vikas Kumar and edited by Makarand Dambhare. It frames the athletes’ experience as a human story set against the race rather than adopting conventional sports-drama structures, portraying them contending with what the article describes as "the weather, the terrain and their own demons."

Gareema Shankar was introduced to cycling as a weight-loss exercise and was 44 when she took part in LEL; Renu Singhi bought a bicycle while purchasing one for her son and was 58 when she entered the six-day endurance challenge. The article notes that Renu became the first Indian woman to complete the 1,500-km ultra-distance race at LEL in 2022.

On how the two subjects came to the project, Gore said: "Sharib, based in Delhi, had just started his production house when he stumbled upon Gareema, who was participating in LEL. We met Renuji through her. Fortunately, both characters are very interesting and were focused on their task at hand."

Gore described observing different constraints around each woman: "I discovered that while Gareema’s family was overprotective of her, Renu lived in a conventional patriarchal set up. It was interesting to observe the subtle differences and similarities between the two of them."

Discussing the film’s method and shooting process, Gore said: "During the first few days, while shooting with Gareema we were still figuring out how to execute the film. We didn’t want to do sit-down interviews with talking heads. The film really started taking shape when we went to Ooty with her. That’s when the film’s language started developing. As far as Renuji is concerned, the first instance you see her on screen is when she reads the newspaper sitting on the floor. These nuances took us forward." The crew shot in Delhi, Udhagamandalam, Jodhpur, and the UK during 2022 and 2023.

The production faced logistical hurdles: "My visa did not arrive in time for LEL, nor did my crew’s. Thankfully, one of our friends had a valid visa, and our DOP had a friend in London. Sharib, who lives in the US, also went there directly," Gore said. The team relied on Google Maps and Google Street View for scouting—"I even did remote location scouting using the Street View tool," she added—and stayed in contact with Gareema’s father, Guruji (Renu’s coach), and a shadow rider while tracking the athletes during the race. On the challenge of filming both competitors, Gore said: "Even though Gareema began early, she fell behind. So, until that point, they followed her, waited for Renu to cross a checkpoint, and then caught up to Gareema by car. It was difficult to balance the two of them at the same time."

Gore said the film does not present a simple triumph narrative: "During one of my initial discussions with the producers, they told me about how the two might be one of the first women to finish LEL. But there were concerns about what would happen if they didn’t. That’s the beauty of the documentary: it is not a success story. The way things panned out during LEL clarifies that it is not about success or failure. Continuing the film for 12 to 13 minutes after the race is where we find Gareema the most vulnerable. That was the most beautiful part of the film," says Ameya. Going Solo is competing in the Long Documentary Competition at the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam.