After Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Traffic Signal' which took a peek into the lives of people hanging around at traffic intersections, now a Bengali film seeks to explore the lives of male transgenders seeking help at such junctions.
Made by a young film studies' student from Jadavpur University, the feature film 'Jenana', starring Saswata Chatterjee and some other popular Bengali actors, is a tale of the transgenders eking out a living by collecting money at the traffic signals.
Pointing out that the film has no relation or similarity with the Madhur Bhandarkar hit, director Barshali Chatterjee said, "My film is about the male community who change their social-sexual identity to eke out a living and hang around traffic signals in a big city. We seldom look at them other than rolling down the glass and handing over a few coins."
The director had spoken extensively to such people "who live on the edges of society".
"My film begins with Somu aka Sumona, a jenana (female) narrating his story to an aspiring young director Riya who became curious about the person seen at one particular traffic signal for days and befriended him," Barshali said.
Saswata, who seemed enthused about the role, said "It is a very unconventional film in every sense. But can't say much about my character."
"Happy the way every cast member including Saswatada listened to my views and suggestions and it was a learning experience to see such a great actor totally undergoing a transition once the camera rolled," the director said.
