Onir keen to get ‘A-list’ actor for biopic on first gay filmmaker Riyad Wadia

As announced recently, filmmaker Onir is currently working on the sequel to his anthological film I Am (2011) titled We Are. Apart from this, he is also in the process of making a biopic on the late filmmaker Riyad Vinci Wadia. 

He was the first openly gay Indian filmmaker and belonged to the illustrious Wadia family, the owners of the yesteryear production company Wadia Movietone. Their action and stunt films starring Fearless Nadia, who belonged to the same family, created a rage back in the day. 

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“I am trying to make a film on Riyad Wadia. He was the first open LGBTQ gay filmmaker, who made this film called Bomgay in 1993. The film went to Berlin Film Festival and other festivals. He is from the family of Fearless Nadia. He died of AIDS in 2003,” Onir told Cinestaan. 

Bomgay starred Rahul Bose, Kushal Punjabi and a few other actors. Wadia made his directorial debut with a documentary on Fearless Nadia titled Fearless: The Hunterwali Story (1993). 

Onir is known for working with lesser-known stars but for this film, he is keen to get a famous name to play Wadia. “His life was like Freddy Mercury. This is one of the things I am very, very keen on doing and I am trying to get an ‘A-list’ male actor for that. I hope some male star will have the guts to do it,” he said.