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From a taboo to something that’s comfortably acceptable on the couch, gay relationship on the Indian television has had new twists, much with the societal dimensions renovated to a new uproar each season.
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From a taboo to something that’s comfortably acceptable on the couch, gay relationship on the Indian television has had new twists, much with the societal dimensions renovated to a new uproar each season.
While the film fraternity still deals with the clichéd guy-girl mushy romances, the love between a guy and another guy (yes you heard it right!) has been exemplified and attempted with consummate ease in some of the most prolific B-town films, along with some sleazy ones. And no, we don’t feature a Dostana that caricatures gay relationships, but what we list down is a sliver of some hardcore films that shook the nation by a storm with its attempt to do the bold and the gutsy with aplomb!
Let’s have a look:
Bollywood’s edition of the Broke back Mountains, this film had been a trendsetter in bringing Indian gay relationships to the Indian couch and bedrooms. Featuring the first ever gay kiss in the history of Indian celluloid, Dunno Y changed the way people looked at same sex relationships. Initially though the film faced a lot of hiccups, this 2010 film was instrumental in shedding off the inhibitions out of the bedrooms and bringing men-loving-men to the fore! Plus a sensual kiss between the lead actors Yuvraaj Parashar and Kapil Sharma added on to the oomph factor!
Based on the never attempted theme of cross-dressing and sexual turmoil faced by a child artist who is passed off as someone of the opposite gender while young, Pankh might have created rebellious upsurge all over the nation. But its treatment was lucid. And the irresistibly hot, or rather candid smooch between the two men in the film resulted in some scornful eyes, but did tag along the theme quite well. This film might fall out for its shabby treatment but it did fly on the wings of the homo-erotic sequence that forms the backdrop of this pensive plot.
A mad comic caper with a tinge of relationship strings, Reema Kagti did not go the no-holds-barred route but she did manage to portray the life of an NRI, a gay in the closet when he gets married to someone and starts seeing a guy when on a Honeymoon. A far-stretched relationship between a closet gay and a straight man falling for each other, Honeymoon Travels got the homosexual tag go commercial with a capital C!
You speak of Commercial and you have the big Daddy of them all! Anurag Basu’s Life In A Metro is a slice of life story of individuals caught up with the busy errands of living in a metropolitan society. But that was reasons enough for the director to picture an employee in shock when she finds out her boss’s sexual relations with her apparent boyfriend. Devoid of any kisses or nude shots, Life in a Metro did keep the social stigma off the platter but it heightened the already palpable issues of same-sex relationships.
Flushing out the pre conceived notions out of the window, Onir, the director of the I Am series deciphered the pangs of being a gay in the Indian society. With Rahul Bose aptly portraying the role of a closet homosexual, uncomfortable to come out open in public, I Am definitely caught a lot of emotions with its superior acting and storyline. Sexual abuse and gay harassments got a newer dimension while the lead characters deftly drowned into a smooch!
A film that marked the centenary of Indian cinema, a film that is a coming of age film with some beautifully penned stories by some prolific directors and one that showcased the homophilic relationships to the homophobic Indian audience amidst a plethora of emotions and applause, Bombay Talkies deserves a special mention. When lead actors of KJo’s story Randeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem lock lips, audiences turn around in shock, courtesy the delicate issue that the story deals with. Nevertheless, this kiss definitely stands out as one of the major break through points, poignant to the film!
With news of Prateik Babbar taking the male intimacy route kissing in a stubbled Ravi Kissen in his next, Isaaq, Indian films are expanding boundaries and domains while Indian film makers choose to invent some highly thinkable and interesting maneuvers to deal with this sensitive issue.
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