Celebs play hide-and-seek, Mumbai comes out

I am a bollywoodiya. I live Bollywood films. And Bollywood is Bombay. This city has a culture of homosexual/bisexual love cleverly disguised as ‘bromance’. No straight Veeru has ever loved any Jai in real life. No Anari has been so obsessed with a Khiladi and been perfectly straight.

The gay characters in Bollywood were either ‘bhais’ or ‘best friends’. Yes, there was the depiction of overtly gay (if there is any such thing) people. They were over the top and formed the insignificant comic relief. Then came Mast Kalandar in 1991, in which an openly gay character called Pinku, was introduced. Played by Anupam Kher, Pinku was effeminate, full of character and evil. It was demeaning in a way, and empowering to show that a sexuality, so subjugated in the real world, was capable of playing the strong and evil villain.

Onir should be given the credit for bringing the issue out of the closet through My Brother Nikhil. It didn’t receive the promotion it deserved. It is a classic. We also need to acknowledge that the first time a mainstream film brought the issue out of the closet was Dostana. Never could I have imaged two famous Bollywood actors playing gay (even if they were pretending) on screen. Some were offended by the effeminacy, I wasn’t. Dostana gave me an alternate word for ‘gay’. It also helped me speak about the issue in a lighter vein. The effeminate gay guy is also a part of my community.  

That brings me to Karan Johar. A lot of ink and fonts have been generously used for Karan. Whether or not he comes out of his closet remains his prerogative. We shouldn’t assume it is easy for the rich and famous. Carry on Karan, make good films like Kapoor and Sons. Please don’t become a Madhur Bhandarkar who has exactly one story line — small town girl, in big city, gets exploited by high society socialite, some incident of child sexual abuse, girl starts sleeping around, feels exploited and lost, reconciles with the situations and resigns to a life of hell in the end. The most important sub-plot is also A GAY MAN WHO CHEATS, either the gay man runs away with his best friend’s (girl)’s boyfriend (remember Page 3?) or the gay man gets into a marriage of convenience with a woman to hide his identity (remember Fashion?). He has a pattern of showing gay men as escapists, cheaters, scoundrels and guess what, he walks away with a national award.

We know that some of his films are inspired by real life. I am all good with gay people being shown in shades of grey. We are evil, nasty and bitchy, just as we are nice and all-saintly. Although, I would love that our good side and ‘just as everyone else’ side be shown just as these directors become an enthu-cutlet in showing us as evil, nasty and horny.  

I just want all producers to know that it is absolutely OKAY and not illegal to be gay in this country. And this city of ours, Bombay, is almost the un-christened gay capital of India. Here you could live in gay abandon literally or lyrically speaking. I AM A HOMOSEXUAL AND I AM NOT WRITING THIS FROM ARTHUR ROAD JAIL.  

Karan and friends need to know that just a stone’s throw away, at the very public Juhu Beach today at 3, you would find people from the LGBTIQ community — OPEN, OUT AND PROUD, and their supporters playing tele-games, exploring sand art and just being themselves. If you are around, do join in. Sexuality, gender, religion, caste irrespective. Come come! Majja will become.