The Delhi High Court’s amendment to section 377 was both historical
and surprising. Even as it is the state's acknowledgment that India has a
sizable and growing gay population, 'popular culture' has seldom seen
gay characters in its stories. And when a gay character is included, he
is often portrayed as the 'over the top' drag queen or the lustful
buffoon who hits, unsuccessfully, on the hero. Added for comic relief,
gay characters are often used to reinforce the masculinity of the
leading man, without much dignity.
Dostana (2008), Karan Johar's offering, was labelled India's first popular 'gay' film and has found support in a large section of the gay janta. The film features John Abraham's near strip tease, showing off a well rounded bubble butt, and presents an unabashed objectification of the male body. The song Maa da ladla Bigad gaya is a rage in gay parties. The song -- loosely translated -- means 'Mother's favorite son has been spoiled'. The boys going home from that party know that they are actually going home to that reinforced stereotype.
The irony, it seems to me, is that Dostana is Karan Johar’s least gay film. Kal Ho Na Ho's (2003) gay jokes where its attractive leading boys were found by Kantaben in a compromising position, paved the way for the non-stereotyped gay in contemporary Hindi cinema. Yet, very few films were willing to blur the line between heterosexual and homosexual and exact even one tender moment between its boys. This was the case even in Dostana, where in the climax of the film, the two macho men are drawn into lip-lock. Sadly, their faces are wrought with disgust, reinforcing public opinion that homosexuality is a disorder. No heart. No dignity.
Pakeezah (1972), Kamal Amrohi's tribute to his lady-love Meena Kumari, did much more for generations of closet gays who were desperately seeking role models. For years, frustrated gay men in an orthodox society connected with the tragic story of the sacrificing courtesan and her unrequited love. This often mirrored their own lonely lives where they spent nights with men that would never acknowledge them in daylight. In the 1980s, Rekha took over the mantle of India's gay icon from Meena Kumari with her immortal portrayal of Umrao Jaan (1981) , a story of the abandoned tawaif. The act was a repeat of the popular Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), also starring Rekha, where the lovelorn and heartbroken courtesan swallowed diamonds from her ring to take her own life. Once again the anguish and loneliness of the courtesan resonated within the gay community, and songs from Umrao Jaan, Pakeezah and Muqaddar Ka Sikander were sung and danced to at private gay parties. Pretty boys and aging queens alike, took center-stage, and passionately performed with quivering bee-stung lips and a longing in their eyes.
Interestingly, in the early 80s, around the time of Rekha's courtesan craze, a popular film magazine published pictures of the screen diva with her butch secretary Farzana, suggesting that the two were having a lesbian relationship. The 80's came to a close with Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and the rise of Salman Khan. Salman's chocolate boy face and chiseled bare chest instantly found affection with the homosexual audience. The hot-bodied hunk faced very little competition in the gay space till the release of Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994). In the film, the camaraderie between Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan titillated gay audiences, who saw more chemistry between the two heroes, than they had with the heroines of the film.
Gay activist Ashok Row Kavi wrote in Bombay Dost's review that 'the film was highly homoerotic' and suggested that Saif came across as Akshay’s gay lover in the film. This review outraged the young and 'yet to make his mark' Saif who was accused of busting Kavi's home, and in his absence assaulting the activists mother. History has underlined that Saif's angry reaction to the gay writer’s homoerotic suggestion brought more attention to the social outcasting of gay men, than years of effort by Kavi. A few years earlier, a film reporter claimed in a popular magazine that Shah Rukh Khan was gay. A livid Shah Rukh, like his Khan counterpart, accosted the reporter at a hotel and slapped him. Models turned actors Milind Soman and Arjun Rampal, in the mid 90's, were quite straightforward about their sexuality. Readers recall the actors openly admitting to magazines that they were bisexual and had experiences with other men.
The 90s also saw the phenomenon that was Madhuri Dixit, the last of the screen divas who made way into the popular gay-stream with her passionate gyrating number Choli ke peeche. Established South-Asian gay club, Kali in London often hosted dance nights with Madhuri-Queen of India, a popular drag queen who, for cheering gay men. dressed and danced like the actress But since then, gay divas have been bullied out of Bollywood by bratty bad boys, who gladly donned female attire for the tried and tested slapstick cross-dressing act.
Naseeruddin Shah, Chunky Pandey and Aditya Panscholi scored big laughs in Tehelka (1992) by prancing around in long wigs and skimpy bathing suits. Aamir Khan also joined the cross-dressing club as Julie Breganza in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Baazi (1995). The cross-dressing act has, over the years, found patronage in actors like Amitabh Bachchan (Laawaris, 1981), Rishi Kapoor (Rafoo Chakkar, 1975), Govinda (Aunty No.1, 1998) Akshay Kumar and Deepak Tijori (Khiladi, 1992). Riteish Deshmukh donned a female avataar in Apna Sapna Money Money (2006). Bitchy gay boys snickered in cinema halls commenting that Riteish looked more like a woman than his larded in make-up co-star Koena Mitra. Cheering galleries seemed to say to Riteish's character that 'as long as you play gay by playing a woman, we don’t mind.'
Surprisingly, it is Amitabh Bachchan, the lanky superstar, who is touted as India's most understated gay icon. Bachchan celebrated the male jodi in many of his early films, often sidelining the heroine. In fact Hrishikesh Mukherji's Anand (1971) had no heroine. It told the story of the love between a dying man, Rajesh Khanna, and his emotional doctor, Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan's jodi with Shashi Kapoor however took the biggest leap in gay Bollywood yet. Silsila (1981) has a scene where Bachchan and Kapoor are showering together, completely naked. At some point the soap they are sharing slips to the ground and when each anticipates the other bending down, they both start laughing. Kapoor says. ‘I'm not going to bend down. I know what happened last time'. What happened last time? One wonders. Ma da laadla bigad gaya?
Bachchan was unstoppable. His super-hit male bonding spree continued with Sholay (1975) where he and the classically good looking Dharmendra sing Yeh dosti- a male duet which has become a sort of gay anthem for the closeted. Interestingly, Bachchan dies in a sobbing Dharmendra's arms and not in unrequited love interest, Jaya Bhaduri's.
It goes without saying that the gay construct is firmly entrenched in Indian society. And it is obvious that the portrayals seem to have degenerated over the years. Films like Page 3 (2005) and Life In A Metro (2007) feature shallow and manipulative gay men who live deceitful lives. Besides a few isolated cases like Excel Entertainments Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007) which addresses the common phenomenon of a gay man marrying a woman and Onirban's My Brother Nikhil (2005), no other popular Indian film comes to mind where the gay character is humanized and has a story to tell. Even though My Brother Nikhil reinforces the exaggerated gay-AIDS nexus, Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli's relationship is treated in a sensitive manner and with some dignity -- even if in death.
It wouldn't be presumptuous to say that most gay portrayals come with a Bollywood rule book with the following commandments:
Thou shall play gay if it is for comic relief (preferably in drag)
Thou can also play gay for villainous and frightful purposes
Or
Thou can play a character dying of AIDS.
But...
Thou MUST have a limp wrist and wear loud, feminine clothing
And...
Thou MUST hit on every other man just because Thou art gay.
Until the rules change in good old Bollywood, the good old gays might be searching in the dark for role models in popular culture. Till then, mothers of gay men will have to understand homosexuality with the help of these popular lyrics:
Chad ki saariyan, aie kawariyaan (Leaving all the unmarried girls)
Dil nu laiyaan ki bemariyan (Don’t know what kind of sickness he has taken to his heart)
Khwaab de maa ka ujad gaya. (Mothers dreams have been shattered)
Maa da laadla bigad gaya, (Mother's favorite child has been spoiled)
Maa da laadla bigad gaya. (Mothers favorite child has been spoiled).
--by Apurva Asrani (twitter @apurvasrani)
Dostana (2008), Karan Johar's offering, was labelled India's first popular 'gay' film and has found support in a large section of the gay janta. The film features John Abraham's near strip tease, showing off a well rounded bubble butt, and presents an unabashed objectification of the male body. The song Maa da ladla Bigad gaya is a rage in gay parties. The song -- loosely translated -- means 'Mother's favorite son has been spoiled'. The boys going home from that party know that they are actually going home to that reinforced stereotype.
The irony, it seems to me, is that Dostana is Karan Johar’s least gay film. Kal Ho Na Ho's (2003) gay jokes where its attractive leading boys were found by Kantaben in a compromising position, paved the way for the non-stereotyped gay in contemporary Hindi cinema. Yet, very few films were willing to blur the line between heterosexual and homosexual and exact even one tender moment between its boys. This was the case even in Dostana, where in the climax of the film, the two macho men are drawn into lip-lock. Sadly, their faces are wrought with disgust, reinforcing public opinion that homosexuality is a disorder. No heart. No dignity.
Pakeezah (1972), Kamal Amrohi's tribute to his lady-love Meena Kumari, did much more for generations of closet gays who were desperately seeking role models. For years, frustrated gay men in an orthodox society connected with the tragic story of the sacrificing courtesan and her unrequited love. This often mirrored their own lonely lives where they spent nights with men that would never acknowledge them in daylight. In the 1980s, Rekha took over the mantle of India's gay icon from Meena Kumari with her immortal portrayal of Umrao Jaan (1981) , a story of the abandoned tawaif. The act was a repeat of the popular Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), also starring Rekha, where the lovelorn and heartbroken courtesan swallowed diamonds from her ring to take her own life. Once again the anguish and loneliness of the courtesan resonated within the gay community, and songs from Umrao Jaan, Pakeezah and Muqaddar Ka Sikander were sung and danced to at private gay parties. Pretty boys and aging queens alike, took center-stage, and passionately performed with quivering bee-stung lips and a longing in their eyes.
Interestingly, in the early 80s, around the time of Rekha's courtesan craze, a popular film magazine published pictures of the screen diva with her butch secretary Farzana, suggesting that the two were having a lesbian relationship. The 80's came to a close with Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and the rise of Salman Khan. Salman's chocolate boy face and chiseled bare chest instantly found affection with the homosexual audience. The hot-bodied hunk faced very little competition in the gay space till the release of Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994). In the film, the camaraderie between Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan titillated gay audiences, who saw more chemistry between the two heroes, than they had with the heroines of the film.
Gay activist Ashok Row Kavi wrote in Bombay Dost's review that 'the film was highly homoerotic' and suggested that Saif came across as Akshay’s gay lover in the film. This review outraged the young and 'yet to make his mark' Saif who was accused of busting Kavi's home, and in his absence assaulting the activists mother. History has underlined that Saif's angry reaction to the gay writer’s homoerotic suggestion brought more attention to the social outcasting of gay men, than years of effort by Kavi. A few years earlier, a film reporter claimed in a popular magazine that Shah Rukh Khan was gay. A livid Shah Rukh, like his Khan counterpart, accosted the reporter at a hotel and slapped him. Models turned actors Milind Soman and Arjun Rampal, in the mid 90's, were quite straightforward about their sexuality. Readers recall the actors openly admitting to magazines that they were bisexual and had experiences with other men.
The 90s also saw the phenomenon that was Madhuri Dixit, the last of the screen divas who made way into the popular gay-stream with her passionate gyrating number Choli ke peeche. Established South-Asian gay club, Kali in London often hosted dance nights with Madhuri-Queen of India, a popular drag queen who, for cheering gay men. dressed and danced like the actress But since then, gay divas have been bullied out of Bollywood by bratty bad boys, who gladly donned female attire for the tried and tested slapstick cross-dressing act.
Naseeruddin Shah, Chunky Pandey and Aditya Panscholi scored big laughs in Tehelka (1992) by prancing around in long wigs and skimpy bathing suits. Aamir Khan also joined the cross-dressing club as Julie Breganza in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Baazi (1995). The cross-dressing act has, over the years, found patronage in actors like Amitabh Bachchan (Laawaris, 1981), Rishi Kapoor (Rafoo Chakkar, 1975), Govinda (Aunty No.1, 1998) Akshay Kumar and Deepak Tijori (Khiladi, 1992). Riteish Deshmukh donned a female avataar in Apna Sapna Money Money (2006). Bitchy gay boys snickered in cinema halls commenting that Riteish looked more like a woman than his larded in make-up co-star Koena Mitra. Cheering galleries seemed to say to Riteish's character that 'as long as you play gay by playing a woman, we don’t mind.'
Surprisingly, it is Amitabh Bachchan, the lanky superstar, who is touted as India's most understated gay icon. Bachchan celebrated the male jodi in many of his early films, often sidelining the heroine. In fact Hrishikesh Mukherji's Anand (1971) had no heroine. It told the story of the love between a dying man, Rajesh Khanna, and his emotional doctor, Amitabh Bachchan. Bachchan's jodi with Shashi Kapoor however took the biggest leap in gay Bollywood yet. Silsila (1981) has a scene where Bachchan and Kapoor are showering together, completely naked. At some point the soap they are sharing slips to the ground and when each anticipates the other bending down, they both start laughing. Kapoor says. ‘I'm not going to bend down. I know what happened last time'. What happened last time? One wonders. Ma da laadla bigad gaya?
Bachchan was unstoppable. His super-hit male bonding spree continued with Sholay (1975) where he and the classically good looking Dharmendra sing Yeh dosti- a male duet which has become a sort of gay anthem for the closeted. Interestingly, Bachchan dies in a sobbing Dharmendra's arms and not in unrequited love interest, Jaya Bhaduri's.
It goes without saying that the gay construct is firmly entrenched in Indian society. And it is obvious that the portrayals seem to have degenerated over the years. Films like Page 3 (2005) and Life In A Metro (2007) feature shallow and manipulative gay men who live deceitful lives. Besides a few isolated cases like Excel Entertainments Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007) which addresses the common phenomenon of a gay man marrying a woman and Onirban's My Brother Nikhil (2005), no other popular Indian film comes to mind where the gay character is humanized and has a story to tell. Even though My Brother Nikhil reinforces the exaggerated gay-AIDS nexus, Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli's relationship is treated in a sensitive manner and with some dignity -- even if in death.
It wouldn't be presumptuous to say that most gay portrayals come with a Bollywood rule book with the following commandments:
Thou shall play gay if it is for comic relief (preferably in drag)
Thou can also play gay for villainous and frightful purposes
Or
Thou can play a character dying of AIDS.
But...
Thou MUST have a limp wrist and wear loud, feminine clothing
And...
Thou MUST hit on every other man just because Thou art gay.
Until the rules change in good old Bollywood, the good old gays might be searching in the dark for role models in popular culture. Till then, mothers of gay men will have to understand homosexuality with the help of these popular lyrics:
Chad ki saariyan, aie kawariyaan (Leaving all the unmarried girls)
Dil nu laiyaan ki bemariyan (Don’t know what kind of sickness he has taken to his heart)
Khwaab de maa ka ujad gaya. (Mothers dreams have been shattered)
Maa da laadla bigad gaya, (Mother's favorite child has been spoiled)
Maa da laadla bigad gaya. (Mothers favorite child has been spoiled).
--by Apurva Asrani (twitter @apurvasrani)
Very well articulated.
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