To add to what has been said if one had watched the recent KBC in which Karan was a guest, his gestures and actions were so much effeminate and the body language was so obvious that one could come to certain reasonable conclusions, which definitely isn't rocket science at all.....
________________________________ From: Vikram D <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; "[email protected]" <[email protected]>; "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, 16 October 2012 6:23 PM Subject: g_b Rishi Kapoor (sort of) admits to the sexuality of his SOTY role With Student of the Year FINALLY about to hit the screens, Karan Johar take on sexuality - including his own sexuality - comes up again in this interview with Rishi Kapoor who, its been widely reported, plays the principal of the school who has feelings for the male PT instructor. Read the first two Q&As from today's Bombay Times: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/I-told-Karan-he-cannot-call-me-Chintu-uncle-Rishi-Kapoor/articleshow/16822402.cms Q] A lot has been said about you playing a gay principal in SOTY. A] I wouldn't say he's gay... not the correct gender orientation. He's not married, is soft on the PT coach. It's a different take of what we have done. It is a very senstive approach with Karan's and my sensibilities and aesthetics. I don't want to sound like a crusader. While working in the film, I'd tell Karan, 'tum karke dikhao and I'll copy you'. So, in a way, I'm a copycat actor (laughs). Karan has helped me a lot and I enjoyed playing the part. It was a laugh riot on the sets. All of us would be in splits whenever we shot. Q] Other films that featured gay characters saw them become caricatures. After SOTY, do you think gays would be treated differently in films henceforth? A] Yes, the role is not a caricature in our film. Film characters depend on directors. In SOTY, it was a personal take by Karan, the director and Rishi, the actor. There's a hint of a feminine streak in the character and it's very subtle, not over the top. If it were over the top, I wouldn't have played the role. It's not an effeminate character. When you see the movie, you'll understand what I mean. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to me. What do people make of this? Its both there and not there: "I wouldn't say he's gay..." but then pretty much goes on to confirm it, and in the second answer essentially admits it by saying the role is not a caricature. And then there is the teasing reference to Karan who has been equally there and not there about admitting his sexuality - never saying he is, but never denying it and, in fact, pretty much allowing his friends and associates to say it. Remember all those jokes his guests would make on Koffee With Karan? And here's Rishi Kapoor saying that his 'gay' character was based on Karan! It is easy to get irritated by all this coyness. Why doesn't Karan just come out and say it, when everyone obviously knows it? And why can't the principal be clearly identified as gay? Karan's earlier films might have come before the 377 verdict, so maybe coyness was to be expected, but now its after (thought still in the Supreme Court) and there's more openness and acceptance, particularly in anything to do with Bollywood. Sridevi's speech in support of the gay teacher in English Vinglish pretty much laid out what the mainstream Bollywood position on homosexuality is now. Karan could help even more by being open, and what does he have to lose, so why not just do it? But against this is what Kapoor says, and again I think he's speaking for Karan here: "I don't want to sound like a crusader." Because that isn't his job. Making feel good Bollywood blockbusters is his job and whatever one might feel about such films, they are a substantial reason why Bollywood exists (meaning such films in general, not just Karan's films). And coming out in a dramatic way and giving a gay rights speech does make him seem more like a crusader and it is just not a role he is comfortable with, so why should he do it. But what he can do is include gay characters in ways that show they are accepted quite readily by the Bollywood film world they are in and they are quite open, just short of actually using the gay label (and in Dostana they did, even if they weren't actually gay!) I think that's a fairly powerful thing to do, especially given that his films aren't small budget, limited viewing ones, but among the biggest and most hyped films of the year. Lakhs of people are going to see Rishi Kapoor do his 'gay' role from this Friday and will probably be left under no illusions about what he is and how the film has no problem with it. So I'm an unabashed supporter for what Karan does and I'm looking forward to seeing Student of the Year (OK, I admit, Siddharth Malhotra has more than a little to do with this anticipation...) But what do others feel? Is Karan's coyness getting tiresome and maybe even regressive? Or is it just cool and maybe even impactful? Vikram
