Watch India's First-Ever Silent Movie About An LGBTQ Love Story This Weekend

Hushed whispers and scared glances. These are what homosexuality has been associated with, in our country. Few amongst us manage to break free of these oppressive chains of society, while, for the rest, the sob remains struck in the throat. And that is exactly what the word ‘sisak’ means, in Urdu.

Sisak, India’s first silent LGBTQ love story, talks of the heart-rending conversations that two men have, not through words but through expressive glances, over a series of journeys in our daily Mumbai locals, and it is this very spectacle that is premiering next week at the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival on Sunday, 28 May 2017.

The theme of this year’s Kashish Queer Festival is ‘Diverse, One’ and it’s all set to explore the diversity of the LGBTQ communities. Almost 150 films from around 50 countries will be screened at the festival, held across two venues in South Mumbai, Liberty Cinema and Alliance Francaise de Bombay.

Anyone with a heart and the ability to feel. Basically, each and every one of us. And why not? This short, directed by Faraz Arif Ansari, has been made into a silent film for a reason, and that is, to reflect the state of the LGBTQ community of our country, stifled and silenced in 377 different ways.

Billed as India’s first silent LGBTQ love story, Sisak promises to narrate a beautiful tale of unspoken feelings, and through sheer poetic visuals, expressive acting and emotive music, is sure to move thousands all over our country and beyond. As actor Dhruv Singhal, who played one of the lead roles in the short film, said, “In a nutshell, Sisak is visual poetry! Apart from being a great piece of cinema, it is a true depiction of love in its purest form. I feel that if this film doesn’t make India see the truth, nothing will!”

Sisak rose to spotlight after actress Sonam Kapoor, visibly moved by the effort, launched the trailer of the film on Jan 30, 2017, giving the project the platform it deserved. The film is sure to be a beacon of hope in the darkness that envelops the LGBTQ community in our country, and, along with the other films to be screened at the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival {24 May-28 May}, is sure to lead the way for Indian cinema to enter a new age of socially-relevant dialogue, and utilise its power as one of the most popular forms of media in our country.

Watch the trailer of Sisak here.

When: 4:15pm, Sunday, 28 May,2017

Where: Liberty Cinema, Marine Lines

Passes: INR 400 (for only one day) – INR 600 (for full festival)

Book your passes here!