You are cordially invited to
* *
*Sunday High, 19 July 2009*
Movies by Sridhar Rangayan
*Gulabi Aaina (2003, 40 mins)*
The Pink Mirror pits two Indian drag queens against a gay teenager in a
battle to woo a handsome hunk. It's a clash of the east and west. Who will
win? The drag queens, who are expert in the art of seduction with their wit,
innuendo and cunning or the young teenager who is saucy, slutty and sly?
Underneath the campy humorous exterior, the film is an exploration of the
Indian gay landscape and understanding of the deep, humanly tender bondings
that exist between drag queens in India who form unique, non-patriarchal
families. Using the Bollywood soap idiom of song, dance and drama and for
the first time in the Indian drag queens' very own language, Hindi, the film
also explores other veiled issues related to the Indian gay community: the
lurking threat of HIV/AIDS. Winner of several awards and screened at 72
international film festivals and over 150 screenings across the world.
imdb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0386499
*68 Pages (2007, 90mins)*
Coming from a country like India that is still in denial, where being HIV+
is still a curse, '68 Pages' rips open the underbelly of its society to
reveal how it stigmatizes and shuns those who are HIV+ or even those who
just want to be what they are. Through 68 Pages of a counselors diary, we
see the stories of Paayal, a sex worker; Nishit, an ID user; Kiran, a gay
man and Umrao, a transsexual bar dancer - their stories of pain and fear,
humiliation and rejection - not only by the society, but even by their loved
ones. While these stories expose the shallowness of the system, it also
offers hope and healing by trying to bring about a better understanding of
their fight to live with dignity. The film is a tribute to the human spirit
of optimism and survival.
The film has screened at 12 international film festivals and over a 110
screenings across India and other countries and won the Silver Remi award at
Worldfest-Houston 2008.
imdb: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1151299/
*Yours Emotionally! (2005, 86 mins)*
Sridhar Rangayan's charming, daring film offers a fascinating look inside
India's emerging gay culture. Gay best buds Ravi, a second-generation Sikh,
and Paul, an Englishman, live in London, where both are out and proud. They
travel together to India, where they find a gay community far more open than
they expected, as well as a community still held at bay by the country's
antiquated views on sexuality. Soon after their arrival, Ravi meets and
falls in love with handsome, shy Mani. Their love is at first sight and
mutual. But Mani is committed to an arranged marriage from which he cannot
back out. Their love is doomed. Paul, meanwhile, is a horny dude who
discovers that same-sex encounters are easy to find in India. As Ravi's
heart breaks, Paul is having the time of his life. The pair spend some time
at a B&B run by Murthy and Anna (Ikhlaq Khan, Ajay Rohilla), a middle-aged
gay couple. As they get to know each other, all four men have life-altering
epiphanies. The "boys" learn the true meaning of love from their older
counterparts, who in turn learn the meaning of gay pride from the young
ones. Lifelong friendships are formed.
imdb: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0818705/
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*Time:* 4.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m., with a 15-minute break after the second film
(i.e., 68 Pages)
*Address:* The Humsafar Trust's Drop-in Centre, 4th floor, Municipal Transit
Building (Vakola Municipal Market Building), Near Raheja Point and Vakola
Masjid, Santacruz (East), Mumbai.
*Space courtesy:* The Humsafar Trust.
*Note:* Programme subject to change without notice. *Please track:* The
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