Even as stories are daring to come out of the closet, Bollywood still seems to be waiting for a mainstream nod to playing homosexual characters on screen.
Even as stories are daring to come out of the closet, Bollywood still seems to be waiting for a mainstream nod to playing homosexual characters on screen.
After years of being stereotyped on the big screen, the LGBT community is finally seeing some honest and more realistic portrayals on the big screen in the Hindi film industry. This year itself there are two examples. After Manoj Bajpai wowed everyone with his portrayal of a gay professor in Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, it was Pakistani hearth-throb Fawad Khan who created waves with his portrayal as a gay man in the recently released Kapoor & Sons. The film turned out to be a massive box office success too. However, producer Karan Johar recently said in an interview that the team had a tough time casting for Fawad’s character. As many as six mainstream actors declined the offer before the role found Fawad. A banner as big and powerful as Dharma Productions finding it difficult to rope in a mainstream name to play a homosexual on screen, speaks volumes about actors’ reluctance to come out of their comfort zone.
The problem, of course, is very closely linked to the society, points out film critic Rajeev Masand. “Fact remains that in this country homosexuality is still a crime. There is so much prejudice still attached to it that I don’t know how much will change till that problem exists,” he says.
Leading casting director Mukesh Chhabra acknowledges that it is indeed a problem to find casting for homosexual characters. He says, “Yes it is slightly difficult in Bollywood to cast for gay roles. I still don’t understand why in India actors don’t think like an actor. But I guess things are getting better and slowly some change is happening. Fawad is an example. I hope the success of that film prompts more actors to think differently and take up the challenge.”
There have been some actors who have set all inhibitions aside when the role demanded it. However, none of them are big names. Roshan Seth had taken the step in 2008 for the critically acclaimed Bombay Boys. Actor Saqib Saleem who played a gay character in a short film in the compilation Bombay Talkies (2013), argues that actors should not let societal problems restrict them. Instead they should challenge them, he says. “I feel actors should choose the roles on what potential they hold and not on the basis of sexual orientation. Actors should just act,” he says. He continues, “Times have changed now. Maybe the previous generation of actors is still slightly reluctant or apprehensive because such issues were not talked about back then, but our time is different and more accepting.”
That seems to be especially true for experimental cinema, where writers, directors and actors are constantly exploring challenging characters and storylines. Ask actor Manav Kaul if he’d be interested in playing a gay character, on screen and he says, “I was in fact offered something similar but for some reason that project didn’t work out. I was very excited though to do it. It’s always interesting to step out of your comfort zone. So in future if at all I get a chance again, I’d do it. But of course, such things depend from actor to actor. We all have our reasons behind doing or not doing a role.”
But while experimental cinema and smaller films are constantly breaking new ground, real change will only come when commercial cinema embraces homosexuality, adds Rajeev. “I think the trend is changing, Kapoor & Sons did do a lot of good to the LGBT community and then there was Aligarh, that had a great actor like Manoj Bajpai playing a homosexual. I think the real clincher will be when a Bollywood mainstream star does it. Will that happen I don’t know.”
While we continue to debate on that, filmmaker Onir feels that the industry has in fact come a long way. His film My Brother Nikhil was one of the early ones to explore the subject positively. “During My Brother Nikhil, or I Am, there weren’t any mainstream actors or stars willing to do a gay role. Of course that was not just because of the role, there would also be other factors such as which studio is backing and so on. I had approached many actors and it would always be a ‘no’. Usually they would offer other excuses to sound politically correct. Mostly, such stories would backfire with big production houses. But now with films like Kapoor & Sons finding success, things are surely changing. Now other production houses will follow suit and open up as well,” he says.
Purab Kohli who played a gay character in My Brother Nikhil, says, “In india surely actors feel reluctant. We live in a country that still criminalises gay people. One of my mothers closest friends was a lovely gay man. I think he set a very good example and opened my family’s mind towards homosexuality. When Onir offered me the role, my only concern was that I had played a similar character in 13th Floor, a small film that was directed by Luke Kenneth. But once I read the script of My Brother Nikhil, I knew for sure there was no way I would refuse that.”
Onir feels that credit for redefining homosexual characters on screen, should go to a “handful of really good actors”. Onir says, “Usually those who are willing to work on these kinds of roles are actually really good actors who are not threatened. You’ll see a Manoj Bajpai, an Irfan Khan or a Purab Kohli or a Sanjay Suri and a Rahul Bose — actors who are known to experiment with different kinds of films.”
