Years ago, my colleagues and I were taking a short walk during our lunch hour along the quiet lanes of Rest House Road in Bangalore. Suddenly, we were accosted from behind by 3 or 4 transgenders. They didn’t do anything to us. They were simply asking for money. But their actions, appearance, behaviour were all different. And we grew up with the idea that anything that was different is to be feared.
I remembered this incident when I watched Samyuktha Vijayan’s astute movie “Neela Nira Sooriyan” meaning “Blue Sunshine”. It’s perhaps, Tamil cinema’s first movie focusing on transgenders. Samyuktha, who is a transgender herself, has written, directed, and acted as the protagonist. In the movie, Aravind, a mild-mannered schoolteacher in a small town grapples with his transition to a woman. He hasn’t “come out” yet as he fears the repercussions. Exhausted by family pressure to marry a girl, Aravind decides to show the world, Bhanu, his real self.
This is a quiet, slow, and sombre movie with no dramatic stand-off scenes, no wailing, no high-pitched background scores. It moves along at a steady pace, and dialogues are all very matter-of-fact. The characters and conversations are natural, and it felt like I was watching the incidents unfold while I was sitting in Aravind/Bhanu’s house.
The social commentary is sharply observant. It comes through in the Vice Principal’s open disgust of “people like these” and in the more veiled distaste in his uncle who suggests who suggests he buy a Bullet and give up the scooter that women ride. Even the people who seemingly accept Aravind have other motives – the school’s Chairman fears backlash from “woke” people and the media because now we have “LGBTQ, ABCD” etc. And his colleague who lauds his courage to transition invites him out for a coffee with other intentions.
I loved all of these aspects which movies generally seem to skirt around. What I would have liked more though is a bit more depth to Aravind’s character, a few more shades. Perhaps, some reminiscences from childhood. Or maybe more of his thoughts on when he decided to take the first step, what led him to it, and so on. He does say that he always thought of himself as a girl a few times in the movie but it would have been more satisfying to explore that thought a bit more on screen.
These are not exactly drawbacks and shouldn’t keep you from watching this courageous and well-made movie. There’s a reason why this movie made it to IFFI 2023 and various international film festivals. More than anything, watch it for a moving glimpse of the struggles of the transgender community.
