Actor Ashish Sharma essays the role of a transgender in his maiden production Khejdi. The film, which premiered at the Kashish Queer Film Festival in 2018, has been selected for the 5th Annual DFW South Asian Film Festival to be held from May 15 to May 19. Set in a remote village in Rajasthan, the film follows a transgender child, named Khejdi, raised in isolation by an Ayurvedic doctor. After 18 years of zero social contact, Khejdi starts exploring the outside world and is faced with questions about gender, sex and identity.
“While writing and filming for Khejdi, I got to know the thought process of society and trans people equally. I realised that it’s got to be a two-way street. The transgenders need to embrace their identity with grace and truth while society needs to accept and accommode them,” Sharma says.
“During the process of shooting the film, we came across the real condition transgenders live in — the atrocities, the discrimination and the myths that surround them. It shook us from within. We knew it’s time we told a story from their point-of-view.”
Archana T. Sharma, who co-owns Rachayita Films with husband Ashish, adds, “While travelling the globe with Khejdi, we realised that everyone understood and connected with the story, be it Dhaka or Germany. With the same thought we are headed for the film’s North American premiere at DFW South Asian Film Festival. We still have a lot of travel left for the film post which we shall bring it to the Indian sphere.”