Sonam Kapoor presents SISAK - 1st Indian Silent LGBT Love Story

Larger-than-life big sets, big bucks actors, fancy equipment and a thousand people working on sets are the elements that make up a big blockbuster film. However, independent filmmaker Faraz Arif Ansari begs to differ. This man, who is the brains behind India's first LGBTQ silent film Sisak, made the movie with just 65,000 rupees and plans to crowdfund the rest of the budget.

Ansari started his career as an associate director with Amole Gupte for the film Taare Zameen Par. Later, he joined Amole as a writer and co-wrote the much appreciated Stanely ka Dabba. "I was lucky to have worked with big names at the beginning of my career. After Stanely ka Dabba, I was the associate director and casting director for Gippi by Karan Johar. When Stanely ka Dabba happened, I realised that if you have to make a film, just go ahead and make it. You don't need a lot of money. We used to get dabbas from home and feed 50 children in the school during the shoot," says Ansari.

The contrast between working on Stanely ka Dabba first and a Dharma film Gippi right after made Ansari realize that he needs a break. "Despite being a small budget film, Gippi was still a big production house movie; everything was as per my convenience. I realised that filmmaking is not about having everything on platter; sometimes you have to fight for it, earn it. I was fortunate enough to be invited by the Uttrakhand government to do a fund-raiser after the floods hit the state. I directed Lion King with 500 children and raised 10 crore rupees. I stayed back in Nanintal for 2 months and wrote a satire, Ravivaar, which had a homosexual protagonist," says Ansari.

Although Ansari approached every production house in the country and a majority of them appreciated the script, no one was comfortable about executing the idea because it dealt with a taboo topic. "There was not even a single intimate scene in the movie, and yet every actor and production house declined the film. When Ravivaar got rejected, I went into depression. And that was when Sisak was born," he says.

That the rejection was based on the belief that LGBTQ films aren't ideal for the Indian audience made Ansari all the more determined to make one without any support. "I decided to make a film without caring about the finances. I used to travel a lot in local trains because with just a 20 rupee ticket I could keep going back and forth on the same route with my headphones on," says Ansari.

A year ago when he was making one such trip, he noticed that there are a thousand stories developing and evolving within a single compartment, and this is what prompted him to shoot the next film in a local train. "There are so many silent, conversational bonds which exist in the train, and they just break off when people leave. It was then that the idea of creating a story about two men on the train came to me. Sisak was born of all these observations," says Ansari.

Ansari knew that the challenge was not to get the story in place, but rather how to make it different from regular films. "There is a thing called crusing' in the gay world, where you are in a public place and checking out someone, but it's all silent. There is no exchange of dialogue, and everything is said through expressions. It's an orgy of thoughts, and this is when I thought it should be a silent film," he adds.

Shooting a film needs money, and the biggest hurdle for him was that he didn't have much of his own to invest in the project. To add to that, the film had to be shot in a local train and no permissions were sought. "I approached some known talented artists and technicians from the industry and narrated the screenplay to them. Thankfully, these guys loved it so much that they weren't interested in the money and agreed to work with me. I managed to get together a unit of nine people including myself, and we started shooting in April," Ansari says.

Having shot a few films for college projects in public places and a local train, I could relate to Ansari when he told me about the problems he faced on set. Apart from making sure the shots are clear, one also has to worry about the people around and keep a look out for the cops, who are ready to bust you at any moment.

"Obviously, shooting in a local train is a challenge in itself, and not having permissions made it worse. We had a big camera, big black bags and other small equipment which could have been easily identified. We used to board the 9:30 Churchgate Fast from Andheri, travel to Churchgate, and come back. The shoot went on for 3 nights, and every day we would travel back and forth at least six to seven times to shoot the film," adds Ansari.

Ansari never named the characters, as it would lead to associations with a particular religion, so he named them A and Z instead.

The fact that Sisak is a silent film posed a lot of challenges. With respect to cinematography, the shots had to be one-take shots, as the shoot was time-bound. "I had put in a lot of effort when it came to the actors. Both of them are straight and had to express themselves without uttering a single word. I had workshops with them in trains for two weeks, where I marked their positions and rehearsed a few shots. People around us gave us strange reactions, but were very supportive as no one complained," says the 30-year-old.

Most of Ansari's friends told him that it was a difficult task, but the determination of his team was unbreakable, and this is what prevented the making of the film from being hindered.

"There was one instance where we had to take a shot at Churchgate station, and we saw a cop approaching us to bust us. We couldn't run till the shot was completed, and luckily, all of us escaped at the right time. Some of us boarded the moving locals and some ran out towards the exit," recalls Ansari.

Ansari had to be very alert while shooting, and came up with code names for cops. "We had three different code names on three nights for the cops. On day one it was Lollipop', on day two it was EssCream' (pronounced the way a typical Indian vendor would), and on day three it was Samosa'. I told every member of the crew that if you get caught, either run or collapse and feign fainting!" says Ansari with a loud laugh.

On being asked if Sisak would have been a better film had there been sufficient funding, Ansari says, "If I was given a choice, I would have opted for the funds. We could have taken more detailed and rich shots with more equipment, and sought permission of course, but such a set up kind of deprives you of the truth. It would have not been Sisak without the thrill and fun everybody else and I had while shooting it. I would have not had so many interesting stories to tell you right now."

With the help of WishBerry Foundation, Ansari has collected 4.25 lakh rupees through crowdfunding, and is ready to release the film this December. "I never knew that I could crowdfund such a large amount. But now that I have, we have begun working on the post-production process and music. I am happy that everyone who has worked on this film will get their share of the pay," says Ansari.

While majority of viewers and filmmakers perceive a big budget film as being the key to success, Faraz is one of the few in the crowd who took up the challenge of creating Sisak despite facing hurdles of all sorts, and this is what gives hope to upcoming filmmakers to follow their dreams. I hope that he keeps making such films, and that Sisak fares well at all international film festivals, just as Ansari wishes that it will.