Ayesha Sood's ‘In Transit’ Is a Rare, Thoughtful Look At Trans Identity In India

It’s Pride Month, and many of us want to show up in support of the queer community. And although I believe it cannot be as harmful as homophobia but our over enthusiasm in our allyship can sometimes create yet another gaze of othering. Poet and Comedian Alok Vaid-Menon puts it best: “Don’t show up for me because you want to protect me or you want to help me... What I want us to rephrase the conversation as is, are you ready to heal?” They point how queer/trans/gender-nonconforming people often already live with a deep, unshakable sense of who they are. It is not them who need help to be free; it's us. The discomfort many of us feel in queer expression is often a reflection of the parts of ourselves we’ve suppressed — our own femininity, fluidity, and creativity.

True solidarity lies in the understanding that queer liberation isn’t separate from our own. It’s a mirror held up to the ways we’ve all been shaped and limited by gender norms, binaries, and societal expectations. It asks us to confront the compromises we've made to be accepted, the parts of ourselves we’ve muted to fit in. And rather than positioning queerness as something to be accepted or tolerated, it invites us to see it as an essential liberty of being, the denial of which should be everyone's concern.

That’s the lens through which Prime Video's new four-part docuseries, 'In Transit', invites viewers to engage. Directed by Ayesha Sood and produced by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti under Tiger Baby, it asks harder questions about identity, community, and the complexity of belonging.

The docuseries, which premiered on June 13, follows the lives of nine trans and non-binary individuals across India. Through a vivid montage of dialogues and visuals, it introduces a diverse set of protagonists who have embraced identities that do not fit the conventional boxes created by society. From a corporate professional in Mumbai to a classical musician in Bangalore, and an educator in Tripura, In Transit maps the everyday terrain of trans existence: interpersonal relationships, and tender acts of self-recognition.

For Ayesha Sood, the challenge was as ethical as it was artistic. “The line between visibility and voyeurism is something I was very mindful of,” she explains. The project was built on over a year of research with journalists, community members, and trans researchers. "We were clear that we did not want to do the voyeuristic take on body, sex, genitalia. Of course, we asked about the body, because it matters. But that is only some of it. There are so many more layers." Ayesha also consciously avoided framing any one protagonist as a stand-in for their community or turning them into emblems.

That sense of multiplicity is the emotional anchor of In Transit. These are people in motion, navigating not just their gender but the shifting landscapes of family, work, friendship, and desire. Structurally, the series is built on four thematic pillars: identity and one's place in the world; familial relationships; love; and finally, dreams for the future. Rather than imposing a narrative arc, the series allows meaning to emerge through conversation and presence.

This approach was made possible by the long-term relationships the team built with their subjects. "We spent over a year and a half just getting to know people," shares the director. "We would do video calls, in-person meetings, and we really tried to understand their stories before ever turning on the camera." This trust-building paid off: characters like Aryan and Madhuri reveal such rich dimensions of their lives that they appear across all four episodes.

Yet In Transit doesn't just spotlight the characters themselves; it also examines how they exist within a broader culture. The series subtly critiques the hetero-cis gaze without ever becoming didactic. It doesn’t posture itself as allyship; it offers proximity. We see scenes of work, domesticity, joy, vulnerability. Moments of silence carry as much weight as spoken testimony.

There are stories of rejection, displacement, and profound loneliness as well. But even in its heaviest moments, In Transit sidesteps the trap of tragedy porn. Ayesha ha been clear about this: "What we wanted to present were universal struggles. The question of your place in the world, your identity, love, relationships with family, your hopes and dreams — these are all very universally understood concepts." In doing so, the docuseries draws in cis audiences not through pity or distance, but through shared emotion.

"In the diversity of these various experiences, what we find is that there's a commonality", Ayesha shares. "And that at the end of the day, everybody is the same and everybody does want to be loved and everybody does want to be seen and they want to find their place in the world."

Stream 'In Transit' here.

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'Khush': How A 1991 Documentary Captured The Queer Voices Of The South Asian Diaspora

Love On The Periphery: 5 Indian Short Films That Separate Queerness From Privilege