Hi Ketan!
Its not about bollywood accepting gay cinema but the audience accepting it. And till there is ShivSena in maharashtra, i dont think they will allow such films to be screened. Infact i feel that people do not mind over gayism till its harmless, but Sena never will allow that.
Infact everyone is aware about 14th feb. How they protest and how they treat lovers. They do not want to think beyound. They call it anti Indian Culture. According to me the culture and the society has to change with the demanding situations. We all know that India has changed its culture or else we all would be still wearing Dhoti and Kurtas instead of jeans and t-shirts. This is all double face of politics. So India accepting Gays is still a dream, to come true. But again here I dont feel that we need to beg for Gayism being accepted. Who are they to grant us permission of what we want to do. We live in so called democratic
country...bus sirf naam ke liye. When we are all aware why to bang heads on the rock and break our heads. If they cant accept truth, then they are wrong and not we.
Ketan_ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Bring it on
VIKRAM DOCTOR
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1428918,prtpage-
1.cms
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2006 12:45:47 AM]
They're already calling it the Gay Oscars. As many as three of the
films nominated this year have characters of alternate sexuality at
their centre; Transamerica, Capote and, above all, Brokeback
Mountain, Ang Lee's film of the tragic love story of two ranch
hands. Whether it wins or not, Brokeback Mountain has made history
with its frank treatment of gay theme in a mainstream film and its
good reception by both critics and audiences. So given how Bollywood
feeds off American films, the question inevitably gets asked: could
it be replicated?
To ask that is to ignore a small fact: it already did. Last year saw
the release of My Brother Nikhil, a film that discreetly, but firmly
placed a gay relationship at its centre and was not an art-house
special. It may have been targeted at metros, but was still
commercially made and released and with a six week run in Mumbai and
Kolkata, 3-4 weeks elsewhere and now commercial release abroad, it's
done better than most mid-range Bollywood films.
Nor were it's actors unknowns: one well-known star, Juhi Chawla, one
rising star, Sanjay Suri, and other roles by acclaimed actors like
Lilette Dubey and Victor Banerjee, or celebrities like VJ Purab
Kohli or models Shayan Munshi, Gautam Kapoor and Dipannita Sharma.
And it won almost unanimous praise from critics.
This is where the Brokeback Mountain parallels end. Because after
its release My Brother Nikhil has been almost completely ignored by
the industry. Despite abundant critical praise, it's been largely
absent from film industry awards. Chawla and director Onir have got
a few nominations, but no wins, while Suri and Kohli, who play the
gay couple and whose performances, particularly Kohli's, were
strongly praised, were entirely ignored. "Actors who have done less
got nominated, but not Sanjay or Purab," says Onir, not hiding his
bitterness. "Why should they take such roles in the future you
take risks, don't earn much, and don't even get recognition?"
The silence over My Brother Nikhil sums up Bollywood's awkwardness
with homosexuality. It's not that alternate sexuality hasn't fea-
tured before in Indian films; in fact, there's been a minor boom of
late. Rules: Pyar Ka Superhit Formula had a substantial gay subplot
which includes one of the characters giving an impassioned gay
rights speech and rescuing his boyfriend from an arranged marriage.
Page 3 had the ambivalent character of the heroine's gay best friend
who steals her boyfriend. Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan camped it
in Kal Ho Na Ho to shock conservative Kantaben. Other recent films
like Let's Enjoy, Mango Soufflé and Bombay Boys all had overt gay
themes. Lesbian themes have appeared, controversially in Fire and
execrably in Girlfriend, while transsexuals (as hijras) were at the
centre of films like Daayra, Tamanna and Navarasa and now ek tha
lalpari.
Nor is Bollywood particularly homophobic. On the contrary, it's
probably one of the most gay friendly industries. "Its not a big
issue," says one young gay man working as a production
assistant. "Everyone knows gay make-up artists or fashion designers.
People in Bollywood also travel abroad so much and they meet gay
people abroad, and they're fine with it."
But talk gay storylines, and the barriers come up. Onir is now
shooting his next film, and says he keeps getting asked if it
includes a gay character: "They all say your first film was very
good, but now do something different. It's clear what they meant by
different!" Sridhar Rangayan, who directed the gay short film Gulabi
Aina, had a similar experience. "I sent a proposal for a film which
I described as Monsoon Wedding with a twist. They were very
interested until they realised the twist was that the marriage was
gay. Then total panic!"
This is no surprise. Bollywood is a crucible for India's social
attitudes and all our confusions with homosexuality get reflected
there too. Rangayan realised this when he appealed the Censor
Board's rejection of Gulabi Aina. One of the censors gave some
friendly advice. "He told me that as long as I didn't actually spell
things out, it would be OK," Rangayan recalls. India is, after all,
still a place where men can be intimate in ways that would make
Brokeback Mountain's cowboys blush, like holding hands or hugging in
public. But let there be a hint that this intimacy might be also
sexual (as it often is) and all the frantic, even violent, denials
will in.
That's the rule which allowed Bollywood to develop a rich tradition
of male bonding epitomised by Jai and Veeru in Sholay and of which
Bobby Deol and Akshay Khanna in Dosti are the most recent example.
Rules always have exceptions though and overt homosexuality can be
shown, but with caveats. For example, says Rangayan, you must always
suggest "why they are like that: Like in Girlfriend or Fire where
the women are rejected by their opposite sex partners. Or perhaps
the gay guy had a cruel father. Something like that."
Even if you duck the reasons, you can't duck the consequences, which
must be negative. Rangayan mentions Adhura, an unreleased film by
Ashish Balram Nagpal where a gay character keeps lamenting his sorry
state, "neither man nor woman." My Brother Nikhil might have been
acceptable because the main character dies of AIDS (though the film
explicitly denies a link between his sexuality and the disease). Gay
characters also pass if they're caricatured, like flamboyant fashion
designers, or if they're offbeat, upper-class and English-speaking
like Roshan Seth's camp landlord in Bombay Boys.
Yet some careful pushing of the envelope does happen. Kohli's charac-
ter in My Brother Nikhil is clearly comfortable with his sexuality
and doesn't die in the end. Parvati Balagopalan, the director of
Rules, says they were careful about how they developed the gay
character. Still, the problems loom for directors wanting to tackle
gay themes in Bollywood. Unlike Hollywood where many actors now
solicit gay roles to show off their skills even Brad Pitt was
reportedly looking for one! in Bollywood they still run a mile.
Rangayan has just finished Yours Emotionally, his first full length
film with a gay theme, and says the project almost foundered because
no actors were willing. "We had to look everywhere, even abroad, and
people kept getting cold feet!" he says.
Distribution is the other hassle. Onir produced My Brother Nikhil
from personal savings, but just couln't interest
distributors. "People told us not to make more than two prints of
the film!" he says. Luckily it was seen by Karan Johar, who loved
it, and from that word started spreading about and Yashraj agreed to
take it up. But Onir doubts this is a real precedent, partly from
his experiences while touring abroad with the film.
A second problem is the change in the film festival market where
independent films have always scored. My Brother Nikhil has done
very well, earning multiple awards, particularly in the audience
choice sections which indicates its real appeal. And it has been
picked up for commercial release in other countries it opens in
Australia this week which is where real profits are earned ("we
only broke even in India").
This reality has already forced Rangayan into different routes for
distribution. Gulabi Aina has been packaged with gay short films
from other parts of the world and sold on compilation DVDs. An
online site will burn copies for you, if you're willing to pay, or
will soon be allowing you to see it on a pay-per-view basis as well.
Rangayan also focused on the niche market of gay film
festivals. "Bollywood is really not ready for subjects like this,"
he says. Balagopalan is more optimistic. "I think we will be seeing
more gay characters in films because films have to reflect the
society they are in," she says.
Rangayan describes his new film Yours Emotionally as a `trans-
cultural drama spiced with love, romance and passions' and is candid
about targeting it at the film festival market. With plenty of
Indian colour, cute guys, romance, discussions about sexuality and
culture, its easy to see it being a hit.
Its a valid route to take, but one that Onir wanted to avoid with My
Brother Nikhil. "I don't see much point in talking to people who al-
ready know what you're saying," he says. He's happy that with his
first film he managed to pull off making the film he wanted and hav-
ing it connect with such a wide range of people. But he's not
hopeful that there's been much change.
©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
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