I AM
 
`My Brother Nikhil' fame director Onir this time comes with a collection of four short tales - `I Am Omar', `I Am Megha', `I Am Abhimanyu' and `I Am Afia', each tackling a societal issue.
 
Omar
 
`Omar' is a film that reveals the nexus between the police and Male sex workers to blackmail and abuse gay men. In India because of the archaic law created by the British which has been long discarded in UK homosexuality is criminalized by law under article 377, whereas any man caught in a homosexual act can be imprisoned for life. This law is very often used by the police to harass and extort money from gay men.
 
`Omar' tells the story of how because of fear of society and law Gay men are very often get blackmailed and are scared to do anything about it. This film is based on real life stories and incidences. It questions the law and a society where the concern should be addressing the deep and growing violence in society but decides to all up in arms against an expression of adult consensual love.
 
Megha
 
A Kashmiri Pandit woman has to go back to Kashmir after 20 years and confront her past. A past of losing trust and faith in humanity. A past that saw 300,000 Kashmiri Hindus leave Kashmir. Since the mid eighties Kashmir has witness the final exodus of the Hindu population. `Megha' belongs to those forgotten minorities who have become refugees in their own country. This film questions the definition of freedom and "Kashmir for Kashmiri". While the film does not deny or overlook the enormity of the atrocities committed by the military and govt over decades, it questions a concept of freedom that eliminates the minority community from its home land.
 
Afia
 
Brought up as an outcast in an all white small town in Europe, Afia finally decides to confront the truth behind who she is. Her search brings her face to face with her father, a glob trotting Indian man bound by conventions and traditions and her half brother.
 
Afia, her father and brother find themselves trapped in a situation where acknowledging one identity would lead to destruction of the other. `Afia' is about labels, taboos and facades - breaking away from them means creating a new `I Am'.
 
Abhimanyu
 
Abhimanyu, the story of a child abuse survivor inspired by the true story of Harish Iyer and his struggle to reclaim his own shattered identity after 11 long years of abuse.
 
Coming On: April 22 2011