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Movie on third gender just happened: Sivan
Indo-Asian News Service

Chennai, Nov 26 (IANS) Director Santosh Sivan, whose film "Navarasa" on third gender released Friday, hopes youngsters will now look at this fringe community very differently. 

"'Navarasa' just happened," Sivan told the media. "Everyone has a different level of third gender clause."

After seeing the film, "we hope that the young will look at them (third gender) very differently", Sivan added. 

Sivan wants the movie to be shown widely across Tamil Nadu as he feels people here understand the mercurial lives of the community better. Tamil Nadu hosts a third gender festival annually in Koovagam village near Villupuram.

Sivan had actually gone to the Koovagam festival with the idea of making a documentary. But the images were vivid. "When they began telling their stories I realised it would be interesting to make a film on them," he said.

"Navarasa" attempts to speak up for the 300,000 people who congregate in the small Tamil Nadu village to worship Aravan and Mohini, two deities evolved from the Mahabharata lore. 

At the Koovagam fest, people enact the story of Aravan and Mohini.

The shooting of the movie was not planned but the story was woven into the film. "These third gender people felt very good telling us their stories," Sivan said.

In "Navarasa", there are three protagonists: 13-year-old Swetha, who is taking her first hesitant step towards adulthood, played by 11th standard girl Swetha. 

Khushboo plays the role of Gautam, "who leads a secret life", and Gautami, a third gender actor who has portrayed the doubts and fears of dichotomy in life beautifully.

Then there are other characters who have done larger than life roles. 

Like Shewta's scooter-driving mother who cooks reluctantly and comes up with a quaint wisdom: "A woman likes to be in a dish" garnished properly. There is also Bobby Darling, a third gender actor who acts his real-life role brilliantly. 

The film is about how Shweta discovers her uncle Gautam's world and tries to make her typical middle class family understand uncle-and-aunt Gautami's world.

The film was shown at the Oceanic Film Festival, San Francisco, and the Seattle International Film Fest and won the National Award last year.

The myth around which "Navarasa" goes back 5,000 years, to Aravan, the son of Mahabharata's Arjuna and Nagakanniga. 

When Aravan is chosen as a sacrifice for the goddess Kali during the Kurukshetra war, he desires to get married. 

No woman is willing to be a widow by marrying him. Then, Hindu god Krishna assumes the form of Mohini and marries him. 

When she becomes a widow, she dresses up in white, breaks her bangles and cries, which is the scene recreated at the festival.