6 Movies That Empowered LGBT Community in India
“Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire — it tells you how to desire”
-Žižek in The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema
More often than not, cinema has been abused and equally condemned for spreading social evils. The surest way to sell a movie is to depict/describe sex and/or violence, and it should do well. Be it stereotyping the characters, encouraging racism, promotion of alcohol and drugs or even sexual violence. In particular, Indian mainstream cinema has done little to address the fundamental prejudices of our society.
Especially in times when cinema is more of a State-approved entertainment feature, one should be careful in attacking social taboos. The risk of losing business, making a bad name, and above all, facing public outrage has downsized the scope of marginalized issues such as homosexuality, AIDS, and sexual deviance.
Worse still is the stereotyping. We’ve literally grown out of seeing Suresh Menon play gay characters, only to be mocked upon on silver screens. Be it Kal Ho Na ho, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd or Dostana, the premise has been all the same. Let’s explore some of the Indian movies that tackle the subject with greater sensitivity, and well… far more responsibility to convey a message across.
1) Fire
Two women fall in love with each other after witnessing neglect from their spouses. First, of Elements trilogy, Deepa Mehta’s Fire explores the issues of homosexuality in a patriarchal conservative family. The movie was released in 1997 on the condition that the protagonist’s name is changed from Sita to Nita.
Even then, there was a huge protest against the movie, apparently encouraged by Murli Manohar Joshi, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra. People felt the movie was pornographic in nature to the extent that Bal Thackeray called lesbianism a social AIDS.
Twenty-one years later, this movie is remembered for its pathbreaking concept and superb screenplay.
Nikhil, a state-level swimming champion is diagnosed with HIV+ and suddenly his life changes. Probably one of the best films made on the subject, Onir’s My Brother Nikhil stands out for various reasons.
Set in Goa, this film doesn’t overdo the Goan stereotype and yet subtly leaves you with a scent of Goa lifestyle. Nikhil is a homosexual which has to endure hatred from family to office. The situation goes out of control when he is arrested because we can’t allow an AIDS patient to spread the disease by touching.
The film was released in 2005 and it must have been an eye-opener in terms of creating awareness both about homosexuality and AIDS.
3) Aligarh
Professor Ramchandra Siras, a linguist and head of the Classical Modern Indian Languages in Aligarh Muslim University was suspended on moral grounds because he was a homosexual. Later he was found dead in his apartment. This critically acclaimed movie explores the emotional and social aspects of homosexuality beyond commonplace jokes.
Brilliant portrayal by Manoj Bajpai further enhanced the message that homosexuality is equally condemned, if not more, in academic circles. Despite protests (and later an unofficial ban on screening of the movie in Aligarh), audience praised this film and it seems our cinematic sensibility has evolved in the last 20 years.
Moving on to the regional cinema, here are some of the honorary mentions:
4) Mitraa
A period drama based on noted story writer Vijay Tendulkar’s Mitrachi Goshta, Mitraa is a movie about pre-independent India when both the genders in a film were played by people of the same sex.
5) Chitrangada and Aarekti Premer Galpo
The list couldn’t be complete without mentioning Riturparno Ghosh’s contributions in dealing with the taboos.
A brilliant film focusing on the gender identity of a choreographer, Chitrangada exposes the hypocrisy that comes into play with transgenders. Likewise, Aarekti Premer Galpo is a journey of a transgender documentary filmmaker who’s confronting the tribulations of a transgender in our country.
