In Transit director Ayesha Sood: Everybody’s journey is exclusive

Curiosity killed the cat — we’ve usually heard this idiom. However the full idiom reads: Curiosity killed the cat, however satisfaction introduced it again. That’s precisely what occurred when director Ayesha Sood determined to check and showcase the lives of 9 transgender and non-binary people throughout India together with her docu-series, In Transit.

Produced by Tiger Child, the sequence traces tales of id, love, and self-expression via uniquely Indian lenses. From a younger educator in Tripura to a classical musician in Bangalore, the sequence spans geographies and generations with cultural specificity and emotional depth.

Sood shares that filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti reached out to her with the concept of constructing a docu-series on this world. Motive? “As a result of I’ve a deep curiosity about gender, sexuality, and girls’s illustration. I’ve spent my life inspecting these programs in my very own private life, and it has been an extended course of.” Sood spent virtually a 12 months and a half in analysis. “[We spoke to] a workforce of journalists, lecturers, and individuals who work locally — transgender activists. We began by instructing ourselves. From historical past, the authorized elements, mythologies to its context in India,” says the director.

Siddharth, Rie, Rumi and Anubhuti

For eons, folks incorrectly represented non-binary people, and it was a world that was not simply accessible. “In case you can think about, writing about or making a sequence a couple of gender is like saying, ‘Let’s make a sequence about ladies.’ The query that poses is: which ladies? So first, it was a means of studying and instructing ourselves via communication and conversations. As soon as we acquired entry, we discovered the names of a lot of our characters and constructed an extended listing, which had a big selection of tales and characters. Then it turned about how we structured our sequence. We speak about id, your home on the planet, relationship with your loved ones, discovering love, hopes, and goals. Then we began filtering. It additionally depended rather a lot on the braveness and skill that these 9 characters needed to inform their tales. It was a mixture of a number of issues [that made this docu-series possible].”

The director of Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi fame shares that understanding that folks come from totally different and numerous contexts helped report and showcase diversified experiences with In Transit. Sood explains, “Everybody’s context is just not that they’re in a secure surroundings, in a house the place they are often themselves. I feel that’s the principle factor we now have tried to get throughout — that everybody’s journey is exclusive. In a rustic like India, there’s no one-size-fits-all path. There was [some] motion within the authorized house. In coverage and on paper, we do take small steps that appear encouraging. Can there be extra? After all.”

In 2022, director Saim Sadiq’s Joyland gave folks hope that there are makers making an attempt to characterize trans folks. Whereas Sood notes that it’s not but a norm to jot down for trans characters, she commends these making the shift. Sood says, “Joyland is admittedly particular and uncommon. There could also be a shift, however it’s not an enormous one. The illustration must be higher. Zoya and Reema are on the forefront of that shift. When ladies are writing, you see that distinction. The identical will occur when transgender and queer persons are telling their very own tales.”

When requested what she seeks with In Transit, Sood explains that it’s to inform inspiring tales of genuine people who find themselves unbelievably sturdy and clear-headed about who they’re and what they’re doing. It’s also to depict the “psychological well being disaster locally.” “What actually stood out, and was deeply upsetting, was how many individuals we spoke to who had ideas of self-harm and suicide. It’s alarming. That type of deep private loneliness could be very saddening. Can conversations result in extra acceptance and empathy? I hope so. Bringing the tales of those people into folks’s residing rooms breaks down a wall. That type of storytelling will help foster empathy. I consider that.”

An actual inclusion

Taali (2023)
Tremendous Deluxe (2019)
Laxmii (2020)
Naanu Avanalla…Avalu (2015)
Night Shadows (2018)