Filmmaker Onir was recently in Kolkata to be a part of a literary fest and though the director’s session dealt with some harsh truths, it started on a rather funny note. “Thank you everyone for coming out. Oops, I said coming out!” quipped moderator Sandip Roy as he broke the ice with the audience. Even a few hours before walking onto the stage, the My Brother Nikhil director had been tweeting about how his recent appearance at a Bhopal literary fest was scrapped at the last minute, over fears of protests.

“I was supposed to be part of a literary fest in Bhopal this week and I got a call from the airline informing me that my flight was cancelled. I was panicking about reaching on time and when I called up the travel agent they told me she was asked to cancel the ticket. I called up the director of the festival and he told me that over the last couple of days, certain groups (he refused to name them) had been planning a big protest over my appearance and were threatening physical violence. Since the police could not guarantee my safety they had to drop me,” Onir shared.

The filmmaker further added, “At the moment, I’m angry over not being told who these people are who are threatening to attack. This is happening to me for the first time and I’m wondering what triggered it.”

He also revealed that he and his co-panelist, trans rights activist Kalki Subramaniam, had reservations regarding the subject of discussion at Bhopal’s literature fest.

“Kalki and I had issues with the subject which was gender-neutral literature. We did tell them that this wasn’t working, let’s talk about queer narratives in cinema and art or something along those lines, but that didn’t happen,” he shared.

Onir revealed that he was asked whether the recent debacle was a repercussion prompted by his comments on a controversial Bollywood song. “I don’t like the song, but I will always speak up for what is wrong. I also realized in the last few days, I haven’t seen my colleagues commenting (on the situation). A few people have messaged me, but your love in the inbox means nothing if you can’t stand with me out in the open,” said the director, who recently released his memoir.

Onir took a moment to acknowledge how the City of Joy had always been a haven for him, as he thanked the festival director Anjum Katyal. “Anjum thank you for telling me to ‘quickly come here!’ She told me you will be safe and loved in Kolkata, which is true, I have always felt that here,” he said. “Coming to Kolkata from Thimpu was a nightmare, I couldn’t get on buses so I would walk. There were too many people! While my soul belongs to Bhutan, Kolkata gave me my dreams, Germany gave me my skills and Mumbai gave me my flight!” said Onir.

The director also opened up about his university days in Kolkata. “Jadavpur University changed my life in many ways. That’s where Hanif Kureishi had come with his film My Beautiful Laundrette. There were discourses about sexuality and literature, it helped me discover myself. The film society there was so active, every week we would have retrospectives, be it on Tarkovsky or Brunel,” Onir shared.

“No love?” the moderator asked the director. “Only heartbreaks!” Onir smiled and responded.