An actor refusing to do a homosexual role is an insult to a minority
Director Rituparno Ghosh talks about why Bollywood needs to come out of the closet
Subhash K Jha
There are several major mainstream Hollywood films on homosexuality. What did you think of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain?
I'd rate Onirban's My Brother Nikhil much higher. I didn't like Brokeback Mountain at all. In fact I quite hated it. I was put off by the abruptness with which the love scenes between the two male actors came on. I thought they were unnecessarily sensational and seemed to be put there for titillation. The director was also apologetic about his protagonists' mutual attraction. The idea seems to be, 'Look they aren't gay. But when two heterosexual males are thrown together in solitude, love may happen'. I found it contrived. I feel filmmakers who have no respect for sexuality – in any form – should refrain from comment. Ang Lee needed to do more research on homosexual behaviour. I did historical research for Antar Mahal and Chokher Bali. Or I'd have made a fool of myself. In fact the other Oscar-nominated film Capote which had a gay hero, was far superior. Philip Seymour Hoffman played Al Capone with such textured velocity.
Did the central relationship between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllanhall in Bokeback Mountain work for you?
No. Firstly the ambience was too pretty and it took away from the central relationship. Given a choice between the shots of nature and the human bonding, I preferred the former. The balance between 'nature' and the 'unnatural' was never resolved.
Did the thought of two male actors enacting a love scene offend audiences?
Yes. I wonder how necessary it was for Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllanhal to be shown copulating. Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli in My Brother Nikhil were able to convey so much more without physical intimacy. I believe audiences in the Indian metros were uncomfortable watching the love-making scenes in Brokeback Mountain while they were quite okay with My Brother Nikhil. I found the love-making in Brokeback… out of context. I found the gay love-making in My Private Idaho to be much better handled.
Do you think Indian audiences are ready for a sexual revolution?
I don't know. I don't think Brokeback Mountain can be made in Indian cinema. Years ago I had offered Akshay Kumar the role of a gay man. I don't know if he remembers it. Today he's playing the hot-blooded lover in my Rahgeer. The film is more about passion than sexuality. It will be more in sync with the accepted mores of mainstream cinema than my last release Antar Mahal. I don't know about our cinema…the sexual mores, family structures and parameters of the permissible are different.
But Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3 got away with paedophilia.
An actor, if he considers himself an actor, shouldn't consider any topic taboo. An actor not wanting to play a gay person is like a Hindu actor saying he won't play a Muslim. An actor saying no to a homosexual role is an insult to a minority. Why do you think we've never had a big mainstream protagonist in India with a Muslim name? The only way we get a Muslim protagonist is if they make a Muslim Social like Chaudhvin Ka Chand or Pakeezah. Why haven't any of the Khan heroes protested about being called Rahul all the time and not Salim for a change? No mainstream Hindi superstar is willing to represent the minority community, whether it's a sexual or a religious minority. I salute Sanjay Suri for playing a homosexual in My Brother Nikhil. It could easily have been swept away.
Do you think Indian cinema is no longer shy of sexuality?
I wouldn't say so. Look at the reaction to my Antar Mahal. I'd say we've gone a step forward and then gone two steps backward. In Antar Mahal I was very clear about why I needed to show those sexually graphic moments. The sex was meant to be repugnant. If the sex in Antar Mahal had entertained people they wouldn't have reacted so violently. Sex, for the audience, is always a matter of titillation. Whether it's Padma Khanna stripping and dancing for Premnath in Johnny Mera Naam or Heath Ledger and his co-star making love in Brokeback Mountain, the audience is unconsciously a participant. Hindi cinema is still sexually inhibited. Till date actors cannot do without make-up, even in realistic cinema. I'd like to make a film about a gay relationship. For me that is easier to do because it offers the chance to go to any creative limit you want. To do a conventional story like Rahgeer and still make it look different is a greater challenge than a homo-erotic story.
* I didn't like Brokeback Mountain at all. In fact I quite hated it. I was put off by the abruptness with which the love scenes between the two male actors came on –
Ghosh
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