Recommended Free Tools
Ek Jagah Apni is Ektara Collective’s 2022 Hindi fiction feature about Laila and Roshni, two trans women in Bhopal searching for a home after their landlord evicts them. Their practical hunt for a place to live opens onto questions of family, friendship and belonging in a society that excludes them.
What is Ek Jagah Apni about?
A prejudiced landlord’s eviction leaves Laila and Roshni looking for another place to rent. As the search unfolds, the two women face different choices: Laila weighs being true to herself against maintaining ties with her family of origin, while Roshni considers whether to conceal who she is or live as she wants. The film’s housing search is also a search for a place in a community and society that push the protagonists aside.
The official Ektara Collective film page describes new friendships and bonds that extend beyond biology. The Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival’s 2023 program likewise connects the search for a house to the search for social belonging.
Who made the film, and who plays Laila and Roshni?
Ektara Collective directed the film. Its official credits name Rinchin and Maheen Mirza as scriptwriters; the collective’s producer page also describes Ektara as the writer-director. Manisha Soni plays Laila, and Muskan plays Roshni.
#1 Best Overall
In a 2022 Indian Express interview, co-writers Mirza and Rinchin said the story developed through conversations with Manisha and Muskan. Mirza recounted meeting them through pandemic relief work, when transgender people were struggling to find work and housing. The filmmakers did not set the story during the pandemic: the discrimination at its center was not limited to that period.
How does the film approach its characters and setting?
The story is set in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, and Ektara says it was shot on location. The collective describes many cast members as first-time, non-professional actors playing characters close to their lives, and the production as an “inside gaze” shaped by a trans-queer lens. People who are subjects of the film also contributed as actors, co-writers, cast and crew.
Rank #2
- Concise fill-in lists and charts enable you to compile the essential information you need to stay organized as you get ready for your home.
- Gather all the details here -- from your real estate agent to your attorney, from utilities and community info to plumbers, electricians, remodeling plans, and beyond.
- Includes graph paper and forms for planning room details, as well as checklists for routine maintenance.
- Convenient inside back cover pocket for business cards, receipts, etc.
- Elastic band closure attached to the back cover keeps your place or keeps your planner closed.
That approach matters to the film’s perspective: Laila and Roshni are not only defined by the obstacles they encounter. Their relationships, choices and efforts to make a home give the story its focus. As co-writer and director Maheen Mirza put it in a SXSW 2023 interview, “Our stories are universal, but our experiences are unique.”
Where has Ek Jagah Apni screened?
According to Lotus Visual Productions, the film took part in NFDC Film Bazaar’s 2021 Work in Progress Lab and the Goes to Cannes showcase at the 2022 Marché du Film. It had its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2022, received IFFK recognition including a Certificate of Merit and a Special Mention for its two leads, and screened as the US premiere at SXSW and UK premiere at BFI Flare in 2023. These are festival milestones; they do not establish current streaming or purchase availability.
How long is the film?
Listings differ: Ektara Collective gives the runtime as 88 minutes, while Lotus Visual Productions lists 90 minutes. The sources do not explain the two-minute difference, so the runtime depends on which listing is consulted.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
