“Main bhi toh insaan hoon!
Mere andar bhi toh dil hai na…”
“Main khushi khushi jeena chahti hoon…”
(“I’m a human being too — I have a heart that feels, just like anyone else.”
“I want to live… and live with joy in my heart.”)

These are the words of Babban, a Muslim trans forest guard in rural Uttarakhand, who is dealing with the stigma attached to the queer community and ailing with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) while trying to live a life where one day, they can be happy.

When I came across the trailer of ‘Babli By Night,’ Neel Soni’s debut documentary that explores themes around being a trans woman in a minority community in rural India while suffering from life-threatening HIV/AIDS, I knew I wanted to uncover the process. I wanted to know the nuances that Neel must have taken care of as he was bringing Babban’s real-life struggles and familial confrontations on camera.

The 23-year-old filmmaker from Delhi has already begun making his mark. Babli by Night, his debut documentary, has been longlisted for the 2025 BAFTA Student Awards in the documentary category — one of just 75 films selected from over 1,000 submissions across 39 countries. The film has also been officially selected for the 2025 New York Indian Film Festival and the 2024 Rome Short Film Festival.

The next day, I reached out to Neel and invited him for a candid interview with The Better India. He joined in along with his film editor, Shubika Sharma, and his aunt, Ayesha Grewal, to share more about his journey — and what drove him to explore such sensitive, often overlooked themes in his work.

Finding a calling in the forests

As we spoke, what stayed with me was just how personal this film is to Neel — not only as a filmmaker, but as someone shaped by the layered, often unseen stories surrounding him growing up. Babli by Night isn’t just a documentary. For Neel, it’s a way of honouring a life that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

“I was introduced to the forests when I was nine years old by my Maasi (maternal aunt). I eventually picked up the camera and started taking photographs. But after some time, photography saturated me and I yearned to discover something more. That’s how filmmaking happened,” shares Neel.

“I met Babban when I was 13 on one of my safari trips that I do for wildlife photography. During the day, I saw this one hardcore ‘Vardi wala’ (in uniform) guard with a gun and a disciplined persona. But by night, when I came back, I saw the same person in a salwar suit, singing and dancing around the bonfire. As a child, I was taken aback, intrigued and curious at the same time. So over the decade, I kept meeting Babban on my visits to Jim Corbett National Park to understand them and vice versa,” Neel recollects.

Bridging silence with sensitivity: A storyteller’s responsibility

As I listened to Neel speak about the care needed when telling stories that can deeply affect someone’s life, I reflected on our role as young storytellers. How can we bring important issues into the spotlight while also making sure we don’t hurt the very people or causes we hope to support?

“When the film was brought to the editing table, we were trying to be as cautious as we could. The whole idea of........

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