Kaizad Gustad has returned to filmmaking after more than a decade with “Lala & Poppy,” a pioneering love story centered on two transgender characters, making its world premiere at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
The film marks a significant departure in Indian cinema’s representation of trans narratives, casting actual trans actors Suruj Rajkhowa and Veer Singh in the lead roles. The story follows Lala, a trans woman, and Poppy, a trans man, as they navigate falling in love while undergoing their respective transitions.
Gustad, known for his 1998 breakout “Bombay Boys,” found the inspiration for the project after meeting Rajkhowa five years ago. “I met Suruj Rajkhowa accidentally, and I was really taken in by Suruj, their personality and their charisma and their camera friendliness,” Gustad says. “I wanted to tell a story in which gender didn’t play a role after meeting Suruj.”
The central conceit emerged from a simple yet unexplored premise. “What would happen if a man who’s transitioning to become a woman meets a woman who’s transitioning to become a man?” Gustad says. “How does the whole gender dynamics play out? How does a love story, if any, blossom from this? To my knowledge, it hadn’t been told anywhere in the world.”
The filmmaker acknowledges his initial reservations approaching the material as a cisgender straight man. “I had no real knowledge of the space at all, so I was extremely nervous about getting it right from the beginning,” he says. The project underwent years of research and community consultation before filming.
Producer Bobby Bedi, who has previously backed groundbreaking films like “Bandit Queen” and “Fire,” sees the project as addressing a crucial gap between legal acceptance and social reality in India. “India has accepted the third gender a while ago. We’ve accepted it constitutionally, we’ve accepted it legally, but there’s still not real acceptance,” Bedi says. “You see people looking for jobs, not getting them.”
Bedi emphasizes the film aims to reach beyond converted audiences. “The film is not designed for a specific LGBTQ audience – they are already part of the converted. We are preaching to the unconverted, which is the people at large,” he says.
For Rajkhowa, a performance artist who moved from Bhopal to Mumbai, being cast represented a rare opportunity. “I clearly don’t pass for a woman in the classical sense,” Rajkhowa says. “So, for me, to be considered was more than anything, really.”
Singh, who is currently transitioning, describes the personal resonance of the role. “This story was really personal to me,” Singh says. “Seeing something like this in India, and for people like us to be played as ourselves on a big screen, it’s really big, because we don’t get this opportunity every now and then.”
The production assembled a notably queer-inclusive crew, with two non-binary costume designers, a non-binary behind-the-scenes photographer, and trans makeup artists. “It was a very safe space for us,” Singh says.
Both actors draw distinctions between their representation and previous portrayals of trans characters in Indian cinema. Rajkhowa references performer Bobby Darling as an earlier figure who was often positioned as an object of ridicule. “She was an object to be laughed at, to make fun of,” Rajkhowa says. The actors hope “Lala & Poppy” will present trans characters as fully realized humans experiencing love, fashion, and everyday emotions.
Bedi commits to a theatrical release in India. “I don’t believe in this straight to streamer audience,” he says. “I believe in giving an audience the opportunity to make a choice.” He’s already in discussions with distributors and exhibitors.
The film underwent development at the international screenwriters lab Stories That Travel to ensure global resonance, and Bedi plans festival submissions to raise awareness of India’s position on transgender issues. “It is important for the world to know where we are on this. We are one-sixth of the world,” he says.
Despite progress in some territories, both Gustad and Bedi acknowledge the increasingly fractious global political climate around transgender rights. “When I started writing this seven, eight years ago, there was a lot more acceptance,” Gustad says, noting rollbacks particularly in the U.S.
However, the filmmaker remains focused on the universal themes. “At the end of the day, for me, it’s more of a human story. These two are human beings first and foremost, they’re male or female after that,” Gustad says. “It’s more about whether two human beings have the right to love each other.”
Gustad has already begun pre-production on his next project with Bedi, “Auto Bhagwan,” described as a real-time thriller set on rickshaws during the last day of Ganpati festival.
Himman Dhamija served as director of photography, with Andrew Bellety handling sound design and Ankur Tewari as music supervisor. Art and production design is by Michri Thejaseno, with Anthony Pandey as first assistant director. Zaid Ali Khan is associate producer, with Varsha Bedi and Himman Dhamija as co-producers alongside producer Bobby Bedi.
