In Aman, Rahul Roye depicts trans pregnancy: ‘Wanted to examine how limited our definition of gender are’ | Interview

Rahul Roye's Aman had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2026.

In the short film Aman, a trans man discovers on the eve of his gender-affirming surgery that he is pregnant. It is a film that instantly asks the viewer to stay patient, to consider… in place of immediate conclusions and labels. Filmmaker Rahul Roye explores the gendered concepts of pregnancy and self-identity in place with this film, which just had its world premiere in the Short Cuts competition at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Aman is co-written by Rahul Roye and León Nostas.

In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times after the world premiere, Rahul spoke about the premiere, why telling this story felt urgent in the backdrop of the 2026 amendment to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act and more.

How did the premiere go? Tell us about the film's reception and about taking it to TIFF

The premiere was honestly quite overwhelming in the best possible way. We had audience travelling from New York just to watch our short, and after the screening, people came up to us, hugged us and cried. We cried with them. To see something we had carried so privately for four years touch people so deeply was incredibly moving.

Taking Aman to TIFF was a dream in itself. To finally sit in that theatre in Toronto, watch it with an audience and feel that kind of response was something we could never have imagined when we started making the film. It felt special and incredibly special.

Tell us a little about the origin of the story. Were there any reference points for you as a filmmaker when you were writing it?

Pregnancy is perhaps one of the most gendered experiences, and it is also deeply politicised and controlled. I wanted to place a trans man right at its epicentre and use that experience to examine how limited, fragile and constructed our definitions of gender really are.

And at a time when trans lives are being legislated against and pushed further into political erasure across the world, making this film felt extremely urgent. Aman came from that urgency, but also from a very personal need to ask these questions through a human story.

Talk me through about casting Kabir Maan, Who is acting for the first time in the film. How did that collaboration take place?

It was non-negotiable for us to cast trans actors for the trans characters. They bring a lived knowledge and authenticity that is very difficult to recreate otherwise. We had been auditioning for Aman and Sirat for almost a year, but nothing felt right. There were also very few trans actors represented by mainstream casting agencies, so the pool we were able to access through the usual casting process was quite limited.

Around that time, my earlier film A Lullaby for Yellow Roses was playing at the Dharamshala International Film Festival, where I watched I Am Sirat by Deepa Mehta. I instantly knew I wanted to approach Sirat. I reached out to her, she very kindly agreed to audition, and it just felt perfect. Then she recommended Kabir for the role of Aman, and when we met him, we knew he was the one.

Tell us about what's next for Aman after TIFF. How are you planning to show the film at home, in India?

Aman is now heading to its European premiere at the 70th BFI London Film Festival, where it will be part of the main competition, followed by its US premiere at the Oscar qualifying Tasveer Film Festival. We also have a few more really exciting selections coming up, but I don’t have the liberty to talk about those just yet.

But more than anything, we are so eager to bring Aman home. We would absolutely love to show the film to an Indian audience, and we’re really waiting for that Indian premiere. That would be a very special moment for us.

Aman is produced by Apoorva Bakshi for Awedacious Originals, Elle León Nostas for Aymara Films, Neeraj Churi for Lotus Visual Productions, and Tushar Tyagi and Abid Aziz Merchant.