The rainbow reels: Beyond advocacy

At the recently-concluded Bangalore Queer Film Festival, the mood and directors’ perspectives were anything but queer. “A story is a story, homosexual or otherwise — that is what will eventually cut bias,” said filmmaker KS Siddhanth, whose film A Little Less Something was screened at the festival.

Siddhanth’s belief, surprisingly, comes from his rather “conservative” mother, who, after watching his film, appreciated the chemistry between his male lead actors.

“That got me thinking… a well made film can keep the audience hooked to the story — and it can be anyone’s story.” Siddhanth isn’t Utopian in his expectations. “We may never find complete acceptance in society, but it is time we moved away from portraying homosexuality as a problem and focus on the beautiful stories within that need to be told,” says the director who was inspired to make a film on the subject after he watched Happy Together by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai.

It’s different
Though homosexuality in India was decriminalised only in 2009, themes in films on the LGBT community are being seen in a different light by members of the audience. This year, of the 53 films screened, 13 were by Indian filmmakers.

“The subject is gradually being explored in Kollywood,” says Debalina, a Kolkata-based filmmaker. She points out the success of the Rituparno Ghosh-starrer, Arekti Premer Golpo (Just Another Love Story). Ghosh plays one of the gay characters in the film that “tracks the emotional journey of two homosexuals in my film” said director Kaushik Ganguly in one of his interviews.

The success of films like this enables filmmakers to make meaningful cinema that focuses on the story like a ‘regular’ one. Debalina says making a film on homosexuality isn’t a cakewalk but Just Another Love story’s success at international festivals have given it a cult-status. “It will have more filmmakers choosing the subject — there is an audience that is aware and wants sensitively made films.”

Queer films also seem to have moved beyond addressing issues of advocacy and awareness. Debalina explains the reason behind the shift. “Filmmakers are now keeping their audience in mind more carefully than before — largely urban and ones who now speak up and discuss homosexuality. Filmmakers now have to delve deeper to find stories that will connect with this audience,” she says.

Mainstream inspirations
Filmmakers who make queer films are looking for inspiration from mainstream directors. Some look up to Onir, who brought the subject of homosexuality into popular discussion with unusual ease. Actor-filmmaker Sundeep Malani, says, “Dostana was a commercial hit and My Brother Nikhil was the best film in Indian cinema that dealt with the issue sensitively.”

Malani clarifies that Shaayad, his film, “is not a film, but reality on screen. It is about a girl and a gay man living together and dealing with sex, love and betrayal.”

Filmmaker Anirban Ghosh, however, feels that mainstream films have mostly been politically correct and not challenged the status quo of orthodox social orders and stereotypes. “But they’ve started experimenting now. Flawed, dark and not-so-glossy reality has started making its way into their films.” That is exactly what Anirban encountered while shooting for his film screened at the festival. “Filming Diaries of Transformation was crucial in influencing my understanding of gender, sexuality and identity related subjects. The support of people working with sexually marginalised communities only helped me film very hard-hitting moments of their lives.”

Anirban has explored the life of transgenders in Diaries Of Transformation. “Transgenders are targets of extreme violence. Their stories, in connection with issues of class, caste and culture, are intricate and complex.”

In spite of the changes queer cinema is going through, it will be a while until it becomes ‘commercial’ in terms of duration. “Everyone’s still experimenting, so short films are being made with subjects dealing with homosexuality,” says Malani.