India's first silent LGBTQI film headed for Cannes?

India's first silent LGBTQI film Sisak is all set to premiere at Cannes. “I'm in a state of disbelief myself. Till everything isn't tied up, I feel talking may jinx it,” laughs filmmaker Faraz Ansari. He clearly loves the buzz the film has created after actor Sonam Kapoor associated with it and began promoting it on her Twitter handle.

“I have no words to thank her for her unconditional support and love for our film. All I did was reach out with a message and she promptly replied saying she wanted to see the trailer. She was crying after she watched it and immediately agreed to launch it,” says Ansari, who is no novice to the world of cinema.

This University of Pennsylvania film school student who was assistant director on Gippi (2013) with (2013) with Dharma Productions has dabbled in both cinema and TV. “I thought it was really special that Sonam came aboard when some really big names who never tire of voicing their sympathy for the LGBTQI cause, just kept me hanging in abeyance,” he gushes and scoffs, “In the end it is sweet justice that I've got endorsed by a star who has a larger following on social media than these worthies.”

The trigger...

In Nainital in December 2013 doing a musical called The Lion King, Ansari took breaks at a cafe where he worked on his socio-political satire Ravivar (where the protagonist is a gay). “My eyes were drawn to the TV. The Supreme Court had in one swoop reversed the Delhi High Court's July 2009 order which de-criminalised consensual homosexual acts in private by declaring as unconstitutional a part of Section 377 of IPC. I just sat there quiet and wept for over three hours as activists and known faces in the LGBTQI movement lamented this ruling on camera.”

He remembers strangely being unable to communicate his extreme sadness with anyone. “I couldn't speak. I didn't want to meet anyone or say anything. I felt so devastated that I couldn't even type a social media post.”

That's how he began writing this film, “expressing the pain and rejection I felt within.” He recounts how all through film school, it was hammered into him to speak with visuals. “A professor of mine would say, 'If you want to write dialogue, then write a radio play.' No dialogues came to my mind at all. It was not like I set out to make India's first silent LGBTQI film. I just didn't feel the need for my characters to talk. I wanted to make a film where two people don't even talk to each other, forget touching each other and yet fall in love,” and adds, “And when you watch them fall in love, you fall in love with them because your heart goes out to their helplessness, to their inability to love, because of a stupid law!”

Faraz says he generally writes the title of his film before he writes the first line. “It's very important for me to do that. But this time it was untitled. I have my Urdu expert mom to thank for this title. When I read it to her she said, “Yeh ek sisak hai jo dil ke rone ki awaaz hoti hai. I loved the word. It really was that cry which chokes you from within and are not free to express it.”

When he came back to Mumbai he got busy with other assignments like writing a film for Tanuja Chandra and a TV show for Star Plus and this film was on the back burner till 2015 when he felt guilty and went back to pursuing it in earnest. “Since nobody was willing to back me. I decided to pool all my savings and go for it on my own. Saurabh Goswami my DOP was the first to come on board and my sound designer Pritam Das was next. But I don't know what I'd do without production designer Aparna Sud (of Neerja fame) who gave me funds to rent a Cannon 5D Mac iii camera and lens.”

The trio had other concerns. “How the f#<k are you going to make it? This is pure poetry. And here, getting permission to shoot on the train itself will be so difficult,” Das had told him.

Going the official route was a no-no, as the railways charge a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh/six hours for allowing a shoot. “Here we were managing on food my mom provided while working. Where were we going to get more money than we would spend to make two Sisaks just to pay the railways. I remembers telling Das, 'I'll be damned if I pay to shoot a gay film on local trains. The community's been cruising and owning the space for decades now.' We just decided to do it shoot-and-scoot style by avoiding the cops.”

Casting coup...

He remembers how even TV actors who have done an episode or two refused to act in his film. “They were worried it would typecast them or start a whisper campaign about their sexual orientation,” he says and laughs, “Even the few who did audition were so caught in this thought process that they'd try to be affectedly hypermasculine even when all I asked them do was read a book. It would require superhuman effort to not burst out laughing hysterically on their faces.”

This went on till his social media rant about not finding actors caught model/actor Jitin Gulati's eye. The Raymond's 'complete man,' has done over 75 big ad campaigns (Lifestyle, Smirnoff, Clear Anti Dandruff Shampoo, Lux Soap, World Gold Council, LUX Shampoo, Haywards, etc) for top brands met Ansari at an event and agreed to come aboard with the one line narration.

As for his other actor Dhruv Singhal, who is still pursuing his final year at Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication , Ansari had seen a film he shot for a college project and liked it. “Dhruv is so raw and so unaware of his own talent as an actor that I felt he was right. Many actors who do a lot of workshops and training begin to become aware of their own potential strengths. They then play on these and start acting in a very processed manner. With Dhruv it was not like that. Each of his takes would be so different and I love imperfection.”

He does admit to running a tight ship on his shoot. “I want my actors to surrender to me. In my script, everything from when the actor breathes, blinks or sighs is written. I'm a bit anal when it comes to my writing and direction. Thankfully both my actors were splendid. 90% of the times we got it right in the first take itself. So though we had initially planned to shoot for seven days we were done in three.”

Shoot & scoot...

The crew would begin their journey from Andheri around 9 pm and go to Churchgate against the traffic in April 2016. And only after travelling back and forth for an hour actually begin shooting. “I wanted the actors to get comfortable with the torque and swaying of the train. After an hour when their bodies were used to the rhythm of the rain we would begin rolling. It was a very workshop-y way of shooting,” he describes and adds, “Every frame was properly story-boarded. We had no luxury of going on to the train and planning the shoot. We had little time. We had to shoot and scoot, literally since security is so tight post 26/11 and we didn't want the cops' attention.”

And did he shoot in the second last compartment which gay men prefer to board? “No we did not shoot on 'that' compartment because the cruising that happens in my film happens in an unsaid way. There is Dhruv's character who is on the train, lonely, unloved and there is the other man who walks into the compartment by default not knowing what he's walking into,” explains Ansari. “My film is not about two gay people meeting but about two individuals who meet and stumble upon love. And that lasts till the train ride. Outside they have their own world. One of them is married and has to go back to his world and this suffering young man has to go back to his misery. The film's focus remains the fleeting solace they find in each other.”

Harnessing the crowd

Once the shoot was done, a cash crunch hit the crew as a lot of money was needed for editing (hiring an editor, renting a studio suite for the editing the film and its promo), sound design (hourly studio rentals), basic colour correction and visual enhancement, background music (again hourly studio rentals, live musicians, sound engineers) and to send Sisak to national and international mainstream film festivals and not just LGBTQI ones.

Finally, they decided to try crowd funding. “We had set a target of Rs 3 lakh in 30 days but got that much in three. Over the remaining days we generated another Rs 1.15 lakh which I then distributed among all crew members equally. I thought they deserved it since they had all come forward to be part of Sisak without any money.”

His story

When prodded about his own tryst with unexpressed/unrequited love Faraz opens up about his experience from two years ago when he taking a flight to Delhi from Mumbai. “There was a guy behind me. As we checked in quick succession, I could feel an energy exchange right there,” he recounts. “He sat in the row ahead but was across the aisle and we simply kept looking at each other at every opportunity and even exchanged smiles. But neither had the courage to say anything. After landing he stood near me at the luggage belt and I kept waiting for him to initiate a conversation. Later we walked out together. His car arrived and my maasi came to pick me up. From our cars we kept staring at each other.”

And then? “Well. Finally, when our cars were going their way, he winked at me. Though nothing happened or could happen, my heart was in my mouth.”

What next?

Ansari just shrugs his shoulders. “After its Cannes premiere, Sisak's trajectory will be decided on its own destiny. I am only clear that we aren't taking it exclusively to LGBTQI festivals alone.”

We can only wish it all the very best.

***

Interview with model/actor Jitin Gulati:

Why Sisak?

Why not? I met Faraz at an event and the moment he had told me what the subject was it did not take me a second to say yes...

This is your second outing as a gay man on screen. Are there any concerns?

None whatsoever. I am surprised that I even get asked this question. Nobody's asked me about getting typecast about any number of straight characters I've played in movies like Warning 3D, MS Dhoni - The Untold Story or when I acted in 24 Season 2 or the 75 ads I have done. I did Amen in 2010 and this is 2017. As far as I am concerned the script, the character have to work for me and for the film. That will remain what I look for.

Which character was easier to get into the skin of Andy of Amen or the guy you play in Sisak?

Both the characters had their own kind of challenges. Amen required me to get naked for a sex scene but remember that was happening inside the confines of a room and I have been modelling for a while so I am comfortable with my body. Here I had no support of dialogue in Sisak. It was all to be conveyed with my eyes and I realised baring my soul in public was far more tougher. Also remember there was this constant danger about getting caught by the cops since we were shooting without permission.

What is your next big project?

I have signed a film with a big banner but I am not at liberty to speak about it because of the contract.

***

Interview with Dhruv Singhal

How did Sisak happen?

The film I did before as a student project got me this role. I think I'm very lucky that Faraz got to see my work and found potential in me.

Were you concerned about playing a gay man in the film?

I will be lying if I say I wasn't. I was concerned not about myself but what my parents' reaction would be. Interestingly they were concerned about me more than themselves. Once we spoke it was all okay and they were very happy for me. My dad who is a man of few words actually patted my back and said he was proud of me when I showed him the trailer.

Has it sunk in that you have become an actor?

Only when my friends and peers pull my leg saying: “You mustn't forget us now that you have become this famous actor.” But I know that's just friendly banter. This is a whole new world and I have barely opened my eyes here.

Who are you getting more attention from? Guys or girls?

Well, both. Since I'm straight it can go to greater lengths with women. With a man, I am okay with the friendly attention but I'll be honest it can be a bit uncomfortable after that.

Have you ever been homophobic?

Yes, as a kid when I didn't know any better I did make fun of anyone who was not manly enough. But I think that stemmed more from ignorance and fear of the unknown than intentional homophobia. Anyway, prepping for Sisak has been able to sensitise me a lot more to the human side of people. Faraz would take me on these train rides and go and sit by himself elsewhere. I was asked to observe and glean. That and meeting gay men and talking to them about their lives helped me a lot.