Nishit Saran
| Nishit Saran | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 May 1976[1] New Delhi, India[2] |
| 💀Died | 23 April 2002 (aged 25)[1] New Delhi, India[2]23 April 2002 (aged 25)[1] |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Nish Saran |
| 💼 Occupation | Filmmaker, gay rights activist |
| Known for | Summer in my veins |
Nishit "Nish" Saran (21 May 1976 – 23 April 2002) was an Indian gay activist and filmmaker.[1] He is best known for the 1999 documentary film Summer in My Veins which screened at a number of film festivals.[3]
Early life and education[edit]
Saran was born and raised in New Delhi to Lieutenant Colonel Raj Saran and Minna (a.k.a. Mina) Saran.[2][4] He completed his education at Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan and scored first on India's Senior Secondary Examination.[2] He had a brother, Mohit.[4]
In 1994 he enrolled to study filmmaking at Harvard University, having received a full scholarship.[5] He was active in Harvard’s Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Supporters’ Alliance.[2] In 1996 he was one of 123 sophomores awarded a Detur Book Prize,[6] Harvard's oldest academic honor presented to sophomores for receiving the highest grades during their first year. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society.[7] Before Saran graduated summa cum laude in 1998,[5] he was also a teaching fellow for an intermediate film class.[2]
Career[edit]
Saran was both an essayist and an activist. In India he campaigned for LGBT rights, lecturing at colleges and contributing news articles, reviews, and essays to a number of Indian newspapers. His writing included the 8 February 2000 The Indian Express piece "My sexuality is your business" attacking Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 377 then included a provision criminalizing same-sex sexual activity that was stricken down in 2009.[8]
His best-known work was his film Summer in my veins, in which he captured his coming out to his mother on film.[9]
Personal life and death[edit]
Saran lived in Noida.[4]
Saran was killed in a 2002 car accident caused by a drunk truck driver[10] (a hit-and-run incident[4]) at Lodhi Road near Connaught Place, New Delhi.[10] He was 25 years old. Five people were killed,[4] including Channel V VJ Pooja Mukherjee.[11][10]
Following his death, his mother Minna Saran established the Nishit Saran Foundation.[8] She campaigned for the decriminalization of homosexuality in India, becoming a prominent gay rights activist.
Filmography[edit]
- Project Flower : A short documentary commissioned by the Centre for AIDS Prevention Studies in San Francisco, about street children in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi.[12][13]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nish Saran at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Pasternack, Alex L. (30 April 2002). "Graduate Known For Activist Films Dies". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ↑ Release info for Summer in My Veins at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 TNN (25 April 2002). "No more perfect days now". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Biography". The Nishit Saran Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ Grenade, Matthew W. (22 January 1996). "Sophomores Awarded Detur Book Prizes". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ↑ "Harvard College Phi Beta Kappa".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Parents say 377 destroys families". Our Voices The Orinam Blog. 7 February 2011. Missing or empty
|url=(help);|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ↑ "Out, Into The Spotlight". The Indian Express. 16 July 1999. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "SUMMER in my VEINS- 1999 Documentary short about a Gay Indian coming out to his mother on camera by Nishit Saran", Remains of the Desi blog, wordpress.com, 9 June 2007.
- ↑ "'I want to celebrate her life'". The Times of India. 25 April 2003. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ↑ Court Document
- ↑ Digital Talkies Film Festival, Zee Cinema
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