Before filmmaker Faraz Arif Ansari ever made a feature movie, he’d already established himself in the world of staging musicals. The lively 30-year-old is filled with passion: for film, kids and fighting Section 377. His latest project is an LGBT silent short film, touted to be the first of its kind in India. Titled Sisak, it is a love story between two men in the compartment of a Mumbai local train. “You [the government] have literally pulled the tongues out of our mouth,” says Ansari. “That’s why it’s a silent film. It’s about two people who want to be together, but they can’t be because of your stupid laws.” Quite aptly then, the film is named Sisak, which in Urdu refers to the cry that’s stuck within your chest.
The inspiration
Ansari wrote his first feature-length film while staging The Lion King in Nainital with 600 kids from schools all over the hill station. With its controversial theme — what happens when a high-ranking Indian government official’s relative comes out as homosexual — the film’s script was largely appreciated by everyone he approached.
Unfortunately, no production house agreed to make the film. Even worse was when no actor (A or B-lister, Ansari tried them all) would consider playing a homosexual character. In a catatonic and depressive state, with little money in his wallet, Ansari sought solace in Mumbai’s trains. “I used to just put my headphones on and travel, from Churchgate to Andheri and further on,” says the filmmaker. “You buy one return ticket and travel as many times as you want.”
During these trips, Ansari noticed something. “I wasn’t aware of the cruising scene in Mumbai locals and there’s a whole world out there that no one talks about.” Here, men would look for potential partners during their daily commute. “It’s silent and beautiful, sensual and subtle. It’s a compartment full of men and most of them are lonely and looking for love. I don’t know what happens when they step out of the train and go back home but when they’re there, they’re looking for love.”
Ansari felt compelled to tell the world this story. It’s something we have all been through; that surge of energy and adrenaline rush when you make eye contact with an attractive stranger. “It’s that celebration of love in its purest form,” says Ansari. “We contaminate it by putting labels like boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and lover.” Within a short while, the script was written and the crew came on board: Pritam Das ( Band Baaja Baaraat and Fan ) as sound designer and Saurabh Goswami ( Ek Thi Dayaan ) as director of photography.
The actors
But casting the actors wasn’t smooth sailing: it’s a silent film where the two protagonists have to entirely rely on their acting to convey messages. “When [actors] would come to audition, they were supposed to act reading a book,” says Ansari. “You are a person falling in love with another person, and that’s your brief.” Of the 300 actors that showed up, 298 ‘acted’ out reading a book, turning every page with drama. The two who surrendered to the part won the two characters up for grabs.
Jitin Gulati, a professional actor who has previously been seen in the short film, Amen based on activist Harish Iyer’s life, stars as the older, married protagonist. “The whole idea of a chaotic world where you find a partner who’s as lonely is something else all together,” says the actor, who’s a fan of Wong Kar Wai’s In The Mood For Love .
With no dialogues and little information on his character, the 36-year-old Gulati had to come up with a backstory for his role. He plays a hot-shot corporate honcho who doesn’t need to take the train, but only does it to feel that daily intimacy with a fellow human being. From the trailer, Gulati appears as if he has encapsulated the abject isolation someone can feel despite having all the success in the world.
On the other hand, his love interest in Sisak is a young boy, someone not as sharply dressed or successful. Played by Dhruv Singhal, the other protagonist is a broken man, one who’s damaged and yearning for a connection. “I didn’t think my character needed a backstory,” says the 21-year-old mass media student. “I [imagined] myself in a similar [romantic] situation with any other girl on the metro, that is the kind of bond I created with Jitin (Gulati).”
Playing the part
Both straight men had no qualms about playing homosexual roles. But to get into the essence of their characters, several workshops were conducted in trains over two weeks for up to five hours a day. Eventually, Ansari could only afford three days worth of rental equipment, which had to be utilised between 10 pm and 12.15 am in a Western Railway train.
“My crew used to stand at exit doors and we had a new name for the cops everyday: ‘item’, ‘black bean’, ‘jelly bean’, ‘soya chips’,” says Ansari. “Everyone used to hide the camera when the cops came.” In fact, on the last day of shooting, the crew was almost caught at Churchgate station post midnight. Luckily, the crew managed to save the final footage before running off into different directions.
Raising capital
The shoot done, Ansari realised he’d exhausted all his savings, with nothing left to meet post-production costs. Luckily, he’s managed to raise Rs. 3,00,000 within just seven days of a Wishberry campaign. Now, with 14 days left, the second crowdfunding round hopes to collect money to pay Ansari’s cast and crew, who have all worked for free.
As of now, Sisak ’s release date hasn’t been decided yet, but Ansari hopes to take the film to every corner of the world to highlight the struggle of the Indian homosexual community.
To contribute to Sisak’s crowdfunding campaign, see: wishberry.in /campaign/sisak
