All’s ‘gay’ in Bollywood?

It wasn’t just Kantaben who was left gathering her wits. The entire country sat up and took notice of two Bollywood hotties teaming up for the gay act.

While the moral police was ready to forgive it as a one-off instance, muttering Kal Ho Na Ho under its breath, John flaunted his derriere and did a simmering tango with good friend AB junior in Tarun Mansukhani’s latest. Why, they even engaged in an onscreen kiss! So, is sexuality finally coming out of the Bollywood closet with Fashion and Dostana, films dealing with the gay theme, being churned out back-to-back? Gone are the Fire days, when effigies were burnt and screenings disrupted. Though a comparatively low-key My Brother Nikhil dealt with homosexuality, the Bollywood scene had never seemed more ‘gay’ before. And the fact that producers are laughing their way to the bank, only goes on to prove that the audience has been acceptable like never before. Mansukhani says that the success of his film can only be credited to its being real. I wanted to deal with real problems. Dostana is a very straightforward film dealing with a sensitive issue. But at the same time, I didn’t want to sound preachy and added dollops of entertainment to the film. That people are coming out of multiplexes discussing the film, is indicative of the film’s success.” The director adds that the scene where Kirron Kher is seen in a dilemma over whether to address John as her son-in-law or daughter-in-law, is his favourite. “Parental opposition is one of the common problems in this context. I wanted to keep the scene simple yet meaningful.”And it’s not just directors who are all set to break away from formulaic films, actors too are becoming more forthcoming when it comes to playing offbeat characters. Harsh Chhaya, who plays a gay designer in Fashion, elaborates how he approached director Madhur Bhandarkar for the role. “I shot a five-minute DVD of myself as an effeminate character. I met Madhur again and requested him to watch the DVD. Within four days, I got the news that I had bagged the part.” Ask him whether he was apprehensive about the role and the actor says that he was “bored to death playing an America-returned MBA or a doctor and wanted to take a chance”. Actor Irrfan feels that it’s a positive trend to have emerged. “It’s good that the society is shedding its hypocrisy.” Ask him to put forward a possible reason behind this trend and the actor explains, “Being exposed to Internet and the TV, the yuppie crowd is updated on everything going around them. Though Mills & Boons will always rule the roost, sentimentality has most definitely taken a backseat. They want a slice of life.” Talk of the depiction of sexuality in Bollywood and author and film critic Anupama Chopra endorses Karan Johar’s views of this being a ‘baby step’. “Fire is a serious film, where Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das are lovers. But in Dostana, John and Abhishek are only pretending to be homosexuals. It’s an irreverent tongue-in-cheek way of dealing with a serious issue. Dostana is not a Brokeback Mountain. The Indian audience has no reason to get agitated as it’s not even based in India!”However, a step has been taken in a positive direction. And we have every reason to be ‘gay’!