Debalina Majumder

If You Dare Desire...

Debalina Majumder

Farha Khatun, Manisha Bilkis

February, 2011. In a small village of West Bengal - Swapna and Shucheta - two young women in love with each other - took their own lives, leaving a letter claiming love, life, recognition... a letter challenging violence, hate, invisibilisation. No one from their families came to claim their dead bodies. They died as they dared to love. Their bodies remained unclaimed by family and society. What if they were not dead but alive today? Like many other couples, Aparna-Kajlee from Bongaaon, Moyna-Bandana from Purulia... They died for love but still live among us. What if Swapna and Shucheta ran away and survived? How would their life together look like and their desire? If you dare Desire, is a film of possibilities. Beyond the domination of patriarchy and hetero-normativity, the women in love resist with their bodies, with their hearts. They live many lives. They die many deaths. They resist and they dream. In the daily struggles of a far-away village. In the dark glitters of a big city.

...ebang bewarish

Debalina Majumder

…and the unclaimed delves into the aftermath of Swapna and Shucheta’s deaths, as well as the social conditions that led to their choice. “The unclaimed” refers both to the fact that neither of their families came forward to claim their bodies, but also to the tenuous state of existence of queer and trans folks in India. Interviews with Swapna and Shucheta’s families and neighbours are interspersed with the stories of ordinary Indian queer and trans people, as well as activists and advocates, all of whom are dealing with their own experiences of the label “unclaimed”, while fiercely fighting for their rights to live and love.

Gay India Matrimony

Debalina Majumder

A film that revolves around three characters who are out exploring their marriage prospects with one of them documenting their travails. While Sayan and Gourab are assigned male at birth, Debalina, director of the film, is assigned female at birth. All three of them are looking for a same-gender partner, and the very suggestion of wanting to marry a same-gender partner drives people around them a into complete frenzy.