Short film The Virgins: Out of the Closet

The topic also drew Varma in because Indian youth, caught between traditions and “western influence”, is yet to find its comfort zone with the subject of virginity. “How one deals with ‘virginity’ is right now part of the younger generation’s evolution,” he says. Varma admits that he finds the approach people take to be a little ridiculous, even though the two sexes are intermingling more today. “On one hand, family elders expect their sons and daughters to stay virgins because it signifies that the youngster belongs to a ‘good family’. But on the the other hand, there’s peer pressure where the youngsters are teased if they haven’t had sex already,” Varma points out. In his research for the film, Varma found that everyone was obsessed with everyone else’s “status” of virginity. “The boys, especially, would confess that they would look at girls in their class and try to guess whether or not they were virgins,” he says. That The Virgins was to be a short film didn’t bother Varma. “Vinay Mishra, the producer, had approached me, asking why feature film directors don’t direct shorts. Short films are seen as a stepping stone for feature films, but they actually require a very different skill set,” he says.