Filmmaker O’Neill has long explored themes of identity in her work, particularly themes such as LGBTQ+ issues and the complexities of human relationships, which have largely been ignored in mainstream Hindi cinema.
His latest film ‘We Are Faheem and Karun’, shot in Kashmir’s breathtaking Gurez Valley, had its world premiere at the recent Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF).
The film, which features a mostly local cast, tells the story of Faheem, a Kashmiri man who meets Karun, a young South Indian security guard stationed in the remote Gurez Valley, at a checkpoint.
This movie depicts a doomed romance between two men.
But O’Neill laments that queer stories often don’t get the attention they deserve.
“In this heteronormative world, these stories are sidelined. Finances are a big issue and there is a clear divide between ‘our’ stories and ‘their’ stories. dabbles in tokenism with a gay movie There may be some, but there is still a lack of maturity in decision-making spaces and among audiences, so it’s no surprise that we have to continue to submit work to queer festivals. ” he told IANS.
The National Award-winning director, known for films such as ‘My Brother…Nikhil’, ‘I Am’, ‘Baas Ek Pal’, ‘Shabd’ and ‘Kuchu Beej Al-Faaz’, has financed his latest film. He also invested his own insurance money for the procurement. A movie brought to you by director Deepa Mehta.
A desire to make a sequel to I Am titled We Are, to commemorate the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 decision decriminalizing homosexuality, ultimately led to The film was originally conceived as an anthology of four gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual stories.
However, the director realized that each story worked better on its own, and the current project was born.
Shot in the desolate yet beautiful Gurez Valley, the Kashmiri actors were carefully chosen.
“Representation is important. Queer stories need more queer voices behind the camera. Similarly, in this film, it’s important that the community is represented by people from the region. In Hindi films, , non-Kashmiri people often portray people from the region; To address the one-dimensional portrayal, the film was written in Kashmiri, as they did not want to indulge in tokenism, and in order to show authenticity, the film was written in Kashmiri with an accent. We added some words,” O’Neill says. Although it may be difficult to get women in front of the camera, I believe there is untapped talent in this valley.
Reflecting on the role of “identity” in his work, he emphasizes that when one’s own identity is ignored, one becomes more aware of other marginalized communities.
“Being queer doesn’t limit empathy; it expands it, and even in ‘I Am,’ not every story was about queer identity,” he says.
Now the filmmaker, who co-wrote the memoir I Am Onil and I Am Gay (along with his sister), wants to explore more stories of Kashmir that don’t necessarily connect to the region’s conflicts. .
Mir Salman, who plays the lead role, believes the film will help break the stereotypes about Kashmiri actors.
“I am confident that this film will challenge perceptions and that Kashmiri actors need to work hard to expand their acting range, improve their language skills and break barriers. ” he says.
Sana, who plays Mil’s mother, can relate to her character’s instinct to protect her child.
“I have two sons the same age, and a mother’s first instinct is always to protect her children.” A mother in rural Kashmir, who has two sons who are the same age, has always been very protective of her children. Many people asked me if I would react the same way. My answer is yes. Geography does not define maternal instinct,” she concludes.
(This report is published as part of an automatically generated, syndicated wire feed. Other than the headline, copy has not been edited by ABP Live.)
