Let’s talk sexuality. And caste

Six years after filmmaker Nishant Roy Bombarde bagged two Rajat Kamals at the 63rd National Awards for his debut film Daaravtha an adolescent boyrsquos exploration of his sexual expression he is ready with Gair This one is a short and explores the sexualitycaste intersectionality released in the US on May 7 as part of the New York Indian Film Festival Its India premiere is scheduled for the Kashish Film Festival which opens on June 1 in MumbaiBombarde was keen to explore the dynamic between caste and sexuality ldquoI love the space where the journeys of two characters become interdependent I wanted to explore this intersectionality and the resultant double persecutionrdquo he saysFinding support for a subject such as this is never easy Some potential collaborators suggested that he consider changing the central character a Dalit to make him Muslim ldquoLaughs I met this famous short film producer and he said that the mix of caste and sexuality is confusing He told me lsquoCity mein itna kahaan dikhayi padta hain ab wahan North mein Dilli vagaira mein toh bahut hi kamrsquo North Indians coming to Maharashtra believe that casteism is stronger here This is because there is more caste discourse here and people are more vocal about discrimination The director said lsquohelliptoh isko agar Muslim bana do toh audience ko samajhne mein asan ho jayegarsquordquoBecause of the ShahuPhuleAmbedkar legacy the expression of caste in Maharashtra is entirely different from that in north India thinks Bombarde ldquo It is more pronounced there and direct Casteist slurs are casually utteredrdquo he saysBombarde remembers wondering who are the people who donrsquot ldquounderstand the rocket science of casterdquoFinding funding did not end Gairrsquos challenges Shot in the thick of Delhirsquos antiCAA protests and the riots that followed soon after the filmrsquos art designer couldnrsquot step out of his home A replacement was flown in from Mumbai Although the film was intended to be shot in the foggy Delhi winter by the time everything fell into place it was March On the day Nishant and his team reached Delhi the skies opened up The rains left the national capital foggy for the next few days Happy coincidenceldquoThere might be a hundred things that go wrong but the universe has a way of making it up to yourdquo says Bombarde who came back to Mumbai to sleep off the exhaustion only to be woken up by the din of clanging pots and pans Gair was edited through the pandemic ldquoIt was a scary uncertain time to be stuck at home and I was glad to be busy with the editrdquoThe filmmaker realises that the expectations are high following the acclaim Daaravtha received ldquoBut every film has its own journeyrdquo Unlike the happy and gay Daaravtha Gair is contemplative even a tad melancholic ldquoYou change as a person as you grow and that reflects in your work What matters to me is that those who have watched Gair have had nice things to say If my film moves people to ponder what else could I wantrdquoIs Gair trying address the casual invisibilisation of caste lsquomainstream Indian LGBTQIA cinema ldquoCaste is invisibilised because it is invisible to the filmmakers It means questioning their own privilege That takes gutsrdquo he says ldquoIf we bring up caste they look away hoping itrsquoll disappearrdquoBut he argues that this ignoring makes it more conspicuous ldquoCaste makes its presence felt through the choice of spaces language and food Gair shows how music and food can become tools of oppression It will be an eyeopener for those who take pride in calling themselves lsquoonly Indianrsquo because they donrsquot serve tea in a cracked saucer to their maidrdquoHe says such supremacist inclusion is seen even in the choice of friends and life partners ldquoCaste is often disguised as class in India One look at dating apps and yoursquoll knowrdquo But it is the paradox of the queer communityrsquos casteist exclusion that Bombarde finds surprising ldquoIrsquom baffled to see a community thatrsquos so vocal about its rights of sexual expression being quiet about caste discrimination among its own ranksrdquo The world over equal rights movements derive strength from each other with the Dalit Bahujan SC STs and Adivasis tribal rights movement and the queer movement all being equal rights movements ldquoYet they are not allies A majority of transwomen in India are Bahujan Theirs is the oldest struggle What does one say to them Scream that you are queer but shut up about being Dalitrdquo he asks and reminds ldquoPride March began as a protest to Stonewall protests by gays against a police raid in 1969 at Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village and at the forefront of the riots were Black and Latina transwomen Talking about race and gender is fine but caste is notrdquo