Bangledeshi director Noman Robin was at a shopping mall and witnessed a transwoman being attacked for using a female toilet.
[A] hijra or transgender female was thrown first out of the men's room and then the ladies' room. As customers began screaming, security guards dragged her to the street and began beating her.
"What are you doing here?" shouted the guards. "I'm human! I need to go to the toilet," she replied.
The hijra was beaten in front of hundreds of people. She is just standing there, saying, "What is my fault?"
I am thinking, "Oh, my god, it's my duty to show this community."
--Noman Robin
Robin's response was to create the movie, Common Gender. It's a film about a love affair between an outcast hijra, Sushmita, and a Hindu boy, Sanjay, whose parents refuse to accept her. Sushmita ultimately kills herself.
That was unfortunately predictable.
Common Ground, filmed in the Bengali language with no famous stars, opened in just 6 theaters two weeks ago with hopes of filling the art house niche, but has proved to be a huge success and will be in general release. An Indian producer has inquired about purchasing the film rights.
Bangledeshi producer and former member of parliament Mahi B. Choudhury, is said to be on his way to New York to promote the film and find an American distributer for the film.
The film's tag line is
A man who exists between a man and a woman is also a human
...he is the best human! |