We Are, sequel to Onir's National Award-winning I Am, goes on floors

Filmmaker Onir has begun shooting for We Are, the sequel to his acclaimed movie I Am (2011). The film was an anthology comprising four short films, out of which two were based on homosexuality. But We Are will completely focus on queer pride. 

Onir on Thursday shared the news on Facebook via a throwback picture from 2011 with Radhika Apte, who was a part of the first film. 

The filmmaker captioned the image: “2011 with friend and talented actor Radhika Apte at the publicity design shoot by Sayan Sur Roy for our National Award Winning film I Am (on Netflix). A decade later now I am starting the journey of the sequel to I Am (titled) We Are. A film that will celebrate queer lives.”

Onir had announced We Are in September last year in a Facebook post. He had also said that the film is a collaboration between his banner Anticlock Films and Shant Joshi’s Canada-based production Fae Pictures and that he would be collaborating with writer Fawzia Mirza. 

Speaking about the film, he had told Screen Daily, “This film aims to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict of 2018 decriminalizing homosexuality in India and elevate queer love stories. As an out and proud filmmaker, I feel great for having found the right partners for the film, with an aligned vision to increase the visibility for queer narrative across the world.”  

I Am had won the National Award for Best Hindi Film and Best Lyrics for the song 'Agar Zindagi' by Amitabh Bhattacharya.