India's first gay music video strums up anti-AIDS notes By Sujoy Dhar, Indo-Asian News Service
Kolkata, July 17 (IANS) Bollywood's "My Brother Nikhil" did it on the big screen. And now a music video by well-known Bangla band Cactus is taking the issue of acceptance of the gay community to middle class homes through the small screen. The music video, in Bengali, is the first such attempt in India and will soon be aired by some Bengali channels. With the movement by supporters and members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) sweeping Kolkata through the gay pride march, a film festival and growing participation in the AIDS prevention movement, the soon-to-be aired Cactus music video comes as a reinforcement. "The proposal came from an NGO called Saathi (Solidarity and Action against the HIV Infection in India) for its opening video of a gay film festival," Cactus band member and drummer Baji told IANS. "Saathi is also supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation." "We too have been involved in AIDS awareness campaigns for long and through this video we could fulfil our social commitment. Whether or not there is support for the LGBT community, AIDS is a common cause after all and the video serves twin purposes," Baji said. "We have shot outdoors and we begin with the line: Human beings are human beings, nothing else matters," he said. "This video is important because in the world of LGBT things are always happening underground. We want to connect with the new generation though music on such issues," Baji said. According to Cactus lead singer Siddhartha, the message in the video, called "Pegasus", is loud and clear and shows the protagonist breaking free of his inhibitions. "Gay people like Elton John and late Freddie Mercury are referred to in the video. Blue apples also keep recurring as a symbol of same- sex love," said Siddhartha. "The visual had to be strong since the lyrics are bold," he said. "We are happy that ours is the first such attempt in India," said Siddhartha. According to Cactus, it has been 30 years that homosexuality has been medically accepted as normal and the society should also accept it. Saathi director and gay rights activist, Pawan Dhall, said the video is a small but significant step in integrating the sexual minorities into the mainstream since music videos make a lasting impression. "There would be raised eyebrows, but people would react," said Baji whose band last year pasted condoms on the tickets of their concert on the World AIDS Day to send a strong message. Indo-Asian News Service Group Site: http://www.gaybombay.info ========================== This message was posted to the gay_bombay Yahoo! Group. Responses to messages (by clicking "Reply") will also be posted on the eGroup and sent to all members. If you'd like to respond privately to the author of any message then please compose and send a new email message to the author's email address. Post:- gay_bombay@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digest Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] No Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Individual Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contact Us:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives are at http://www.mail-archive.com/gay_bombay%40yahoogroups.com/maillist.html Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_bombay/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
