How important was it for you to have your family’s support? I’ve seen them treat each other as equals, without any discourse about it. The kind of person and filmmaker I am has to do a lot with my childhood, the way my parents brought us up. I always say my soul belongs to Bhutan and my mind was nurtured in Kolkata. Your book takes a long look at your childhood in Bhutan and college days in Kolkata. The love that I get from the audience is more precious than the headcount over two weekends. It gives me a lot of joy that even after so many years people still talk about My Brother…Nikhil and I Am. Even when my films have not done so well commercially, they have travelled the world. Having said that, the box office has never been the driving force for me. But, of course, we have to be grateful that someone is talking about us.ĪLSO READ | Pride Month: ‘Usually, caste discourse is not tolerated in queer spaces’ĭo you keep audience reaction in mind while working on a project? But the intimacy is so sanitised that sometimes I wonder who are these people? I don’t know them. Today, everyone wants to do a gay role, it’s like ticking one of the boxes. That’s why you see a lot more portrayal of lesbian relationships. Truth is they, especially men, feel awkward asking about a queer person’s romantic life. When it comes to me, they either skip me or don’t ask me as they think I would be embarrassed. At gatherings, friends talk about their lovers and affairs. It’s almost like everyone shies away from it. Most queer narratives are devoid of desire. Recently, we wrapped up the shooting of Pine Cone, which is the story of a gay man navigating love and life. The stories I wish to tell don’t fit into their “baby steps”. For every concept, script or proposal that I sent to studios, producers and platforms in recent years, I usually got this response: ‘This is too gay’, or ‘We are taking baby steps’. Has the striking down of Section 377 encouraged more storytellers to tell queer stories? Catering to the box office means you are trying to fit into certain notions of being populist.ĪLSO READ | Onir interview: ‘Why can’t a creative person in a democratic country question any institution?’ You see one nationalist soldier film after the other releasing or remakes of south Indian movies.
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When one movie does well, everyone starts doing similar stuff. Mainstream cinema can be more progressive. Is it a tragedy? Or, is it something you are showing as a way out or a celebration? It is this point of view that makes a difference. People always give this excuse that this is the reality. Nearly 17 years later, you see movies where characters are begging to be accepted or willing to lead a life of compromise to fit into a heteronormative society. My lead character was willing to walk out of his home and family unless he and his lover were accepted.
In 2005, I made My Brother…Nikhil, which got a ‘U’ certificate then. Why is this change not reflected as much in mainstream cinema in India?
Youngsters are much more empowered today and connected to people who belong to the community or are allies to make their journey easier.ĪLSO READ | Pride Month: ‘Push boundaries, one step at a time’ There is so much reference that people have access to, today. Today, you see people from small towns and villages making videos and reels featuring the queer narrative. However, others were not criminalised by law unlike those who identify as queer. We are a long way from being an equal society - on the basis of caste, gender and sexuality - but that’s something a lot of us are fighting for.
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With homosexuals no longer being treated as criminals (after the Supreme Court in 2018 repealed Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised gay sex), it empowers the community to fight for other civil rights. You saw a queer character on the big screen for the first time when you watched My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) while studying at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Neurodivergent attachment carrd.ALSO READ | ‘We need to start normalising queer characters in films’: Indian screenwriter Mrittika ‘Mou’ Sarin