'Tamil cinema has to focus on gay, lesbian, bisexual-related content’

CHENNAI: Born into a lower-middle-class family and raised as one of the three boys for a tailor and homemaker, Santhosh was ranked second in his district in Class 12 board exams. His friends, relatives and society mocked him for his feminine demeanour. However, his parents were supportive and enrolled him in a Bharatanatyam class. That was a safe space where he could be himself and that helped him to focus on his academics, coming out in flying colours.

He then became a software engineer at an e-commerce company, which was a major turning point in his life. Santhosh now Samyuktha Vijayan, silenced the mocks, judgements and taunts, and emerged as Tamil cinema’s first trans woman filmmaker. “I worked in the US for a decade and had the opportunity to meet a lot of queer people across the world. That’s where I first witnessed two women identifying themselves as a couple. Notably, the way people around treated them fascinated me and I realised that it was the right time and place for me to embrace my identity in 2016. It would have been difficult for me to undergo the same process in India,” starts Samyuktha, who was at our office to have a candid conversation about Tamil queer cinema.

Neela Nira Sooriyan (Blue Sunshine) is based on true incidents about the life and struggles of transgenders. The movie made its presence on various international stages including the Glasgow Film Festival. “During the 2020 lockdown, I wanted to try my hand at writing. Predominantly, most Tamil films in the past have always depicted transgender people comically and mockingly. Although recently a few Tamil films have made some strides concerning portrayal, still there are no full-fledged films. We never get to see the inner agony of transgenders,” Samyuktha says, who penned the script, performed and directed the film. The title Neela Nira Sooriyan tries to convey what has to be like a bright and vibrant sunshine in a trans person’s life, is painted blue because of the stereotypes, bullying and judgements.

“I wanted Neela Nira Sooriyan to be within the context of mainstream and didn’t want my protagonist (Bhanu) to run away. She has worked at the same place and I could portray it better because I have the experience of transformation,” adds the filmmaker. As a newcomer venturing into the film industry, she sought the help of YouTube videos to learn the basics of script and screenplay writing.

“It was quite hectic to don multiple roles as the film was shot in 23 days. The amount of time for what we set to achieve was less. But, it was an advantage when I need not depend on many people for performance, direction and writing,” she smiles. The portrayal of Bhanu’s plight, bold transformation, dejection and suffering was natural for Samyuktha because of her personal experiences. Another person who took multiple tasks was Steev Benjamin, the music composer, editor and cinematographer of the film. She also thanks her producer Mala Manyan for giving space for such much-needed stories.

Though we get to watch a very few number of films about transgenders, it is absolutely zero in Tamil when it comes to lesbian, gay or bisexual. “There is some sort of acceptance for trans people in the minds of people because of the visibility for centuries. When it comes to gay, lesbian or bisexual, it is tagged as a Western concept. But it has always existed and the awareness about the queer community is new,” Samyuktha affirms.

While Tamil cinema is considered a progressive industry, the software engineer-turned-filmmaker opines that the Tamil audience is quite conservative. “Malayalam film Industry already has Kaathal: The Core, about a gay person, performed by a renowned actor like Mammootty. Hindi has also done a bunch of scripts. This area needs more focus,” she states. “We are taking baby steps. But the rate of change can be fast. T in LGBTQ is still there but LGBQ is not visible and accepted,” she adds.

Samyuktha gave a subtle treatment for Neela Nira Sooriyan to reach a wider audience from different walks of life. She wants even kids to watch the film without any hesitation as they shape the future and it is important for them to be kind, informed and considerate.

“Writing decent and in-depth roles for transgenders is crucial. We need to cast transgender actors and not male actors for the roles as it takes away the opportunity from trans people. People tend to think trans women are just men in sarees, which is not the case. In that sense, the Tamil film industry should enforce conscious bias and forcefully create good transgender characters. In that way, there will be a pool of actors shining,” Samyuktha suggests.

Another hitch is big production houses are least interested in making small-budget films. In that sense, independent producers coming into the picture. Samyuktha says, “So far, the contents are limited to caste and class differences. The scope should be expanded and deal with gender and sexuality issues as well. At the end of the day, these are not just films but social issues. ”

The film deals with an important threat of how institutions use the LGBTQ community to boost their presence. “Corporates and other private institutions put up rainbow flags only during Pride Month. Instead, they can work on sensitisation programmes that will significantly make the lives of queer people easy,” she shares.

Samyuktha has quite a few interesting ideas lined up. She is working on a script revolving around Devadasis in the periodic era. She wants to make a high-octane action film as well. “We do not see kids' films anymore. Sadly, young minds are exposed to violence, loud music and obscene content now. I wish to do a kids’ adventure film too. Again, it is all hoping that I could write interesting scripts and also find producers for those,” signs off Samyuktha with fingers crossed.