However, it was not an easy feat. There were moments when he doubted whether he could complete it, particularly as it was his first experience in filmmaking. “Convincing myself was the hardest part,” he says.
“But I wanted to create something authentic. When the movie Kaathal — The Core led to many discussions around Kerala, we also realised how homophobic some people are. Beyond activism, media, makeup, and fashion, we rarely see queer individuals in our daily lives — neighbourhoods or even office spaces. From language interventions to ground-level societal changes, a lot needs to happen. And discussing these issues through cinema, especially from a first-person perspective, is important.”
For Jijo, the short film is not just about representing the community through cinema, but about connecting to the cultural spaces of Kerala, which makes the process both exciting and challenging due to the increased scrutiny it invites.
“In the Kerala context, factors like caste, economic background, education, job status, unemployment, and disability all need to be addressed. That’s what we are trying to convey to the broader community. I know we can’t address every issue, but as an artist, I focused on what I can connect with and bring into the film. That was the core idea behind making this movie,” he explains.
Jijo handled the story, script, direction, and music in Velipadu. But this is not his maiden foray into the film world. He has directed a documentary, Njan Sanjo, which was about the life of a transgender man, Sanjo Steve.
Velipadu is now doing well in the festival circuit, he says. But he also hoped to showcase the film in colleges and cultural spaces in the state.
“But we didn’t receive much support. I don’t know why actually. But it feels like topics like religion, sexuality, and polyamory are still too hard for people to accept, perhaps due to religious sensitivity. However, we have been doing well on the festival circuit. So far, we have screened at 24 festivals and won six awards,” he smiles.
And Jijo is not done. “I really want to screen this movie in more spaces,” And this difficulty they are facing, he says, shows how much homophobia still exists in Kerala society.
