Zoya Akhtar reveals how 'Made in Heaven' led to powerful docuseries 'In Transit': 'We got so much love from the LGBTQ+ community'

Be it a school educator from
Tripura
or a classical musician from Bengaluru, the four-part documentary series 'In Transit' gives a sneak peek into the lives of nine individuals who live beyond the gender binary and are ready to go through hardships to fulfill their dreams. Each character is at a distinct level in their journey, confronting and challenging societal norms.
Produced by
Zoya Akhtar
and
Reema Kagti
under the banner of Tiger Baby, the four-part docuseries is directed by
Ayesha Sood
. The project explores the lives of trans and non-binary individuals navigating love, identity, and the boundaries of gender in a uniquely Indian way.
In a conversation with ANI, producer
Zoya
Akhtar and director
Ayesha
Sood got candid about the series and shared the challenges of making 'In Transit'
Zoya shared that the genesis of the series traces back to the positive response to 'Made in Heaven': "The idea came, actually, after when we started doing Made in Heaven, the first season of Made in Heaven, we got a lot of support from the LGBT community and a lot of love from them. And then the next season, we had a character called Meher, which was played by
Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju
. And that was a trans woman character. While we were writing it, we realised we knew very little. So we did extensive interviews with about six women. And just their candour, the way they were so candid, the way they shared, and we realised how little we knew of these experiences. And they were from all over India. I just felt that this needs to be explored more. Lucky for us, our partners were Amazon Prime. And when I pitched this to them, they just went for it. So then we got Ayesha on who curated, she wanted to cover in this docuseries. And that's how it started."
'In Transit' is an unfiltered insight into the lives of nine people who live beyond the gender binary. The series features real-life stories of courage, vulnerability, and resistance from people around the country, including a young educator living in a reserve forest, a classical musician from Bangalore, and a corporate hotshot in Mumbai.
Talking about the research work and bringing all the stories together, director Ayesha shared, "We did very deep research for about a year and a half. And through that time, we went through, like, from history to mythology to politics to understanding all the concerns of what it means to be trans in this country. And through that process, we made a long list and sort of filtered down ideas and thoughts of the story, and then came down to a final nine. So, you know, different stories and different perspectives and but also, you know, make them universal in that we are talking about, you know, identity and love and family. So these are also universal themes. So that's kind of broadly how we came to our characters."
About the challenges of bringing them on camera to share their stories, Sood added, "Through the time that we were doing our research with the team, we started to sort of have conversations and build a relationship with these characters. We spoke with them, we did online interviews, we sent people and went and met them like one-on-one, no cameras. So I think the key thing here was to build this over time. And by the time they came to the camera, they knew us. So they were comfortable with us, and they trusted us. I think it was tough for a lot of them. These are not easy stories. They come from a lot of battles and struggles with people close to them and people in their lives. So I don't think it's easy for them at all."
Referring to the story of a school educator in Tripura, Ayesha said, "Sid, who comes from Tripura, actually has a very complicated and tough story and runs away from home and had to be rescued with this conversation, this story that happened with his partner because there was another abduction involved. And we actually found Sid through a local sort of help NGO, an NGO in Kolkata. And they had rescued Sid and his partner from this traumatic night and evening. Our research team had somebody who knew of this, of this NGO and through them, we found this story. So it was like, I mean, I think it was like amazing that we were able to make these links with networks across India, like people who worked in the field, worked with trans individuals who could help us find these characters."
Transgenders face different challenges including social exclusion, discrimination, unemployment, lack of educational facilities and others. The director talked about their acceptance in society and how, through the series, she hopes to bring a change. "I think people change and societies change when they experience things that move them and you'll see through the series also, there are some people who are accepting and there are some people who are not accepting and some families that do and some families that don't. So, I don't think it's, you look at the society as one block, you know, has society changed or it hasn't changed but things like 'In Transit' are what is going to help people change. You see it in your living room with family, with other people that you know and hopefully that sparks a conversation and a dialogue within that living room, you know, and changes something there."
On talking about the challenges of making the project, Zoya shared, "For me, it was not challenging at all. Reema and me wanted a director that would actually not be manipulative, would actually not want to do something that would be,.. shocking or trying to attract attention in a way that we didn't want and Ayesha was the first name that came to both of us because there's a certain empathy, there's a certain understanding, there's a certain compassion, there's a certain analytical brain, there's a certain aesthetic..and she just ticked all the boxes. Then Ayesha came on, honestly, we, for us, it was jam. We really didn't have any struggle."
Ayesha agreed and said, "Filmmaking is chaotic and complicated and has many moving parts, but this wasn't a struggle for any of us. The struggle was for our characters, you know, them coming out, telling us their stories. They had to be involved in our process from beginning to end, you know, like give up parts of their life to us, whether it's photographs or introduce us to their worlds. So I think the struggles lay with them, you know, like for us, it wasn't a struggle."

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