Abhishek Kapoor: We keep comparing ourselves to the West, but the West is 20 years ahead of us

For filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor, narrating a love story of a man and a trans woman with Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui was not a challenging task, but more of a responsibility. He says his sole intention was to stir a conversation, not impress anyone.

Now, the director hopes it opens doors for more such conversation, and stories.

“It was a very difficult film to make because it is such a delicate topic about a community that has always been on the periphery of acceptability and acceptance,” Kapoor tells us, adding, “And now, people from the community are coming forward and embracing the film. They are normally very apprehensive because they have always been abused or made fun of or ridiculed. Watching them accept the film feels like a real honour”.

The purpose, as he puts, is to start a conversation. “The audience can never be ready for materials like that. You have to open the door and start a conversation with an inviting tone. Normally, such films are part of art house cinema and talk about the pain and the anger. The word does not travel out of the dark room,” adds the Kedarnath maker, who feels it is one step towards normalising conversations around transgender community.

“If we can understand, there can be some conversation, because out of understanding comes acceptance. And after acceptance, comes normalcy. This is the first step in that direction,” says the 50-year-old.

While he is getting positive feedback for Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor starrer, some are wondering why not a transgender for the lead role. And that’s because Kapoor wanted to be practical.

“We thought about all these options (of having a trans actor), but one has to be real. Because what is the purpose of making the movie, the purpose is not to impress just the trans community, or interest a certain section of the film industry. My purpose is to make a difference to society and to start a conversation,” he expresses.

The filmmaker continues, “We keep comparing ourselves to the West, but the West is 20 years ahead of us… Woh already aisi filmein kar chuke hain… They are already on the third stride of acceptance of this community, and we haven’t even started. To start off this conversation, it was important for me to have a familiar face, someone with whom people can relate to.”

Kapoor might be the first one to handle such a story in the mainstream space, but he hopes he isn’t the last one. “I am sure more movies will be encouraged to be made on such topics. And there are so many stories waiting to be told, from so many different angles,” he concludes.