Rikhil Bahadur’s first feature film is about discovering one’s sexual orientation

Mumbai: Debutant director Rikhil Bahadur didn’t have an easy time making 'Time Out'. The film about youngsters in an upmarket school discovering their skills, aims and sexual orientation in life also tackled the thorny issue of a young man announcing his homosexuality to his family and friends.

Rikhil says he had a tough time convincing the actors Pranay Pachauri and Vedabrata Rao into playing homosexual partners, specially when they had to do a love-making scene, “It was tough convincing the actors to do it initially. But once we got through the first take, it actually went through quite smooth. It was tougher to shoot the scene where the boy and girl kiss!”

The director expresses disappointment with the way homosexuality is depicted in Indian cinema. He said, “I feel homosexuals are usually used as a comic relief in a lot of films and stereotyped. On the other extreme there are films which show them as very sleazy and sex-hungry characters. I think this is quite far from reality and handled insensitively in bad taste in our films. This needs to change. Very rarely do we see a gem like Dedh Ishqiya where the portrayal is handled so brilliantly.”

He expresses that making 'Time Out' was not easy. Rikhil said, “Yes, it was actually quite a journey! People in our society are extremely judgemental, the youth is mostly not even allowed to express itself. I faced a lot of opposition from school authorities and parents and took over a year to get the film shot.”

Even the act of getting permission to shoot in a school premise was an ordeal for Rikhil. “School Principals would jump off their seat at the very mention of homosexuality and ask me to leave abruptly. Shoot was stalled once because neighbours thought we wouldn't handle the subject tastefully. Also, researching and finding people willing to talk was also a task,” he added.

The director shared that finding right actors was another hurdle. He said, “We auditioned in Delhi for over a year. We wanted the actors to be skilled in the instruments / sport they play in the film as a prerequisite. We went from school to school and spoke with all music schools and private music tutors we found contacts to. We even went on to put audition calls in markets, Facebook, Twitter and broadcasts on phones. I was very particular in finding actors who looked authentic and understood their characters. The auditions were all improvised scenes and we found only three girls who could play the drums and looked the part of a 14-year olds. Luckily one of them was also a fantastic actor.”

Talking about what the future holds for 'Time Out', Rikhil said, “We did receive a lot of good support from the right people who really encouraged me to make the film. But I'm very realistic about it, I don't expect it to be a runaway success on the first day. But surely as more and more people watch it I expect it to start picking up. We've tried doing something very fresh and different from the regular films out there. I am certain that it will stand out and people will connect to the film.”