It made headlines in almost all the film festivals. It was the opening film at the In Homochrom Film festival in Germany. And now Indian daily soap director, Rohit Dwivedi’s Khejdi (taking refence from the dying tree — Kejri in Rajasthan) is making its mark on Indian soil.
The film is a journey of a transgender and her struggles to lead a normal life within the society. The movie is an adaptation of the short story Sanjha by Kiran Singh.
Released last year, right about the time when the Supreme Court decriminalised LGBTQ has continued to receive overwhelming response.
“Decriminalisation of Section 377 of the IPC has helped the transgender community who are looking for an identity in society, directly or indirectly. They can now be open about their preferences and not be persecuted for the same,” Dwivedi says.
Since the film talks about a transgender and struggles, the societal acceptance for the movie took time. “It was awkward. The entire film was shot in Rajasthan. When we started shooting, people were shocked to know the storyline. But after the Section 377 ruling happend, there has been no problem. The locals have accepted the need to tell this story,” Dwivedi tells you.
He doesn’t see his transition from directing daily soaps to meaningful cinema as a switch. “I never got the chance to do meaningful cinema. But then this story came to me; it was hard-hitting and challenging. I wanted to push myself and see how far we could go with the subject. But this doesn’t mean that I am not open to directing commercial films or I will not go back to directing TV shows,” Dwivedi says and adds that the idea and the story came from Ashish Sharma who plays the titular role of Khejdi.
Dwivedi tells you that the story was penned by Sharma and his wife Archana Taide. Known for his character experimentation, Sharma is a popular face in daily soap. He has done shows like Prithvi Vallabh (played the lead) and Siya Ke Ram (played Ram).
“As an actor, he was very keen to play a transgender. He (Sharma) loves to experiment, a necessity for an actor even though Khejdi came with its share of challlenges,” Dwivedi says.
Before the movie went on the floor, Sharma spent six-eight months to prepare. “He had to think like a transgender to play the role. He had to understand the mental make-up of the transgenders and the problems they face,” Dwivedi tells you.
Khejdi is not set for commercial release in India as Dwivedi feels the audience is not ready. “However, never say never. We will release it when the time is right,” he asserts.