Movie – Transgressor
Director – Leroy Rogers
Leroy started his career in music and acting. He developed a passion for filmmaking during his time as a screen actor.Leroy has worked in videography and video editing, and more recently has turned to directing short films
Hello Leroy! Transgressor is a well made movie. Tell us what was your first reaction after hearing the story for the first time?
I remember feeling satisfied. Even though it was a short story, I felt I had been taken on a long journey and gone full circle back to the beginning.
What attracted you to the project?
The Egypt flashback scene got me excited. It seemed really ambitious.
Pawan Sahni has both written and acted in the film. So, it’s expected to have a burst of ideas on filming. I’d like to know how you two collaborated while writing the script?
We would have regular zoom meetings to discuss different revisions of the script. I think we both wanted to move away from a question and response style dialogue during the therapy room scenes.
We had a lot of discussions around how we could introduce the possibility of the therapist having malevolent intent. We played around with some of his questions and statements to make them feel slightly unusual.
What is your main object as a director? What kinds of stories do you want to tell?
I want to tell the type of stories that have a satisfactory ending but also give an audience the opportunity to imagine a bigger world.
I’ve always liked films that have loose ends and unanswered questions about the worlds they are set in. I am more engaged with a story when I am not given all the details.
Which aspect of a story catches your attention first?
I like lead characters who are slightly flawed. If they demonstrate moral flexibility or poor decision making from the start, I’m hooked.
Leroy, the movie deals with human psychology and memory. How do you think our memories control us?
Memories of our past experiences shape us and influence us every day. All our irrational decisions are a product of past memories.
Do you believe in reincarnation? Or past life? If yes, how’d you justify it?
I don’t believe in past lives or reincarnation, but I like to imagine it’s a possibility. I definitely want to believe.
Coming back to the movie, the end in a way repeats the past. Do you think it’s fair for this life to bear the consequences of the previous?
It’s completely unfair.
Leroy, tell me how the shooting process was? How did the actors prepare themselves?
We shot the Egypt scene first. I remember spending a lot of time with Pav (Pawan) working on anger and rage, we covered everything from from under the surface resentment to full on manic frenzy. The end result was quite terrifying.
Sunil naturally has a strong presence and speaks with authority which is well suited to both the pharaoh and the Therapist. For the office scenes I tried to encourage him to add a touch of weirdness to his character, which he was able to do quite effectively.
If you could change the end, give it an alternate ending, how would you end the movie?
I would have liked the patient to not have realised his therapist was his brother from a past life. The Therapist on the other hand knows from the start. During the end scene, the Therapist has the opportunity and motive to reveal himself and kill his patient, but chooses not to at the last minute; instead keeping his knowledge secret to protect his patient from further psychological damage.
Have you selected your next project? How do you wish to surprise us?
I am currently working on a short film about an online chat room service for lonely people. It’s a fun script but I have no idea how it will translate to film yet. It will definitely be surprising.
Leroy, thank you for your precious time! It was nice talking to you.
Thank you. It was nice talking to you too. I really enjoyed your questions.
