Onir: World is full of closet homophobes

Onir Pic/Satej Shinde

Few filmmakers in India allow their personal identity and politics to reflect in their work. Onir has always believed in bringing stories of the queer community to the world, starting with the heartfelt My Brother Nikhil (2005) to the National Award-winning 'I Am' (2010). Last month, the director announced 'We Are', the sequel to the 2010 anthology. "I had no idea that I would explore a sequel."

A still from I Am

The only thing I wanted to do was to celebrate the decriminalisation of Section 377, and take the discourse forward to understand what needs to be done in terms of civil rights. During the lockdown, Devdutt Pattanaik sent me a concept of a gay love story, which I developed as a short film. Then, I started thinking whether we can whip up an anthology of four queer love stories, each with a fresh theme."

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Nimisha Sajayan

The anthology will feature The Great Indian Kitchen actor Nimisha Sajayan alongside Sacred Games' breakout star Kubbra Sait. In working with relatively new actors, Onir is trying to step out of "my comfort zone". "How many times will I cast Sanjay Suri or Rahul Bose? I need to explore other actors," he states.

The sequel will star Kubbra Sait

One would assume that a sequel to I Am would be easier to make amid the current OTT revolution. However, the director rues that he is struggling to find investors, possibly because of the anthology's subject. "As an out and proud filmmaker, with National Awards being conferred on I Am, I expected more interest from OTT platforms. The lack of interest shows that the world is full of closet homophobes. Many platforms have declined to fund the film. If they don't believe in the theme or empower people from the community, great content will never happen," says the filmmaker, who is developing the project with Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Fawzia Mirza. "My belief in the film is such that I will shoot it on my iPhone [should the need arise]. No one can stop me from telling my stories." Onir intends to roll the project in September after honouring his commitment as the jury member of the Short Film Festival at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

Also Read: Onir: Male actors in Bollywood are insecure about playing gay roles