And they lived happily ever after?

It had to happen. While in America and in the UK homosexuality is accepted as a way of life (two weeks ago, California too allowed gay marriages), there are still inhibitions, especially among those who insist it is abhorrent to their religion or that it is an aberration. But with the public outing of Brokeback Mountain, at least Hollywood was able to come out of the closet and break the last taboo in a mainstream film. As the Indian Supreme Court and the government re-examines Section 377 that criminalises homosexuality, have we accepted homoeroticism and homosexuality in our cinema, and do we manage to show it as normal behaviour?

The good news is that Indian cinema, which largely reflects social trends, is cautiously beginning to recognise that a variant sexual desire need not be deviant. But this is still a very slow process and often the portrayal of these relationships is painfully stereotyped. Gay themes are usually mentioned as ‘insider jokes’; if they are enacted they are mostly male and effeminate figures of fun, or simply dismissed as ‘chakkas’. Or, the portrayals are completely accidental and inadvertently lead to certain actors becoming ‘gay’ icons — as happened with Sholay. To the surprise of many film aficionados, the deep friendship between Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, has now been interpreted to be almost ‘gay’. Luckily, now we are inching towards a more deliberate depiction of gay subjects.

Indeed, that is why Section 377 seems even more antediluvian and absurd. In small budget films like My Brother Nikhil and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd the subject has already been explored in detail. It is a fantastic tribute to our liberal society that we can have a dual system of law in operation — one for the courts and one for popular indulgence!

While in My Brother Nikhil, homosexuality receives a sympathetic portrayal within the family, Honeymoon Travels makes it a voyage of discovery: two married men on their honeymoon find they are dreaming about each other rather than their newly-wed wives. In both films, homosexuality is a serious issue. We are not given any excuses for the behaviour — for instance, frigid wife, impotence etc.

This is a crucial step forward because so far most homosexual references have been through a subplot (Rules — Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula) or a careless comment (Om Shanti Om). Even in films that supposedly dealt with the subject in depth, attempts are made to find excuses for the pattern of behaviour, especially lesbianism. Karan Razdan’s Girlfriend, the first mainstream film on lesbianism, actually incensed gay activists as it portrayed a violent, possessive Ishaa Koppikar in love with Amrita Arora. The ‘reason’ behind Koppikar’s ‘deviant’ sexuality was that she had been abused as a child. That is, her lesbianism was accidental and not her personal choice.

Similarly, in the more celebrated film, Deepa Mehta’s Fire, lesbianism was an act of rebellion. Once again it was suggested that this behaviour is learnt or acquired and not a predisposition.

Indian cinema seems to find lesbians more complex than homosexual men. In a largely patriarchal society, lesbianism is considered highly dangerous. Which may explain why the Indian entry at the 2007 London Gay and Lesbian film festival, Shamim Sarif’s The World Unseen, is screened more outside India than in the country. It has Lisa Ray playing a lesbian. Can we accept that?

Indian mainstream cinema may have been coy, but the signals, at least for gay males, are coming thick and fast: scenes such as Saif and Shah Rukh fooling around with each other in Kal Ho Na Ho, to the camera caressing Ranbir Kapoor’s body as the towel slips in Saawariya.

Much of this adventurousness is because of a generational shift. Our directors are younger, more aware and unafraid. It is a matter of time before an Indian Ang Lee will plunge into a full length mainstream feature film on gay relationships. Hopefully it will portray what millions of hounded homosexuals have to undergo in their daily lives. Hopefully, the film will also celebrate the abolition of the ridiculous Section 377.

Desai is author of ‘Darlingji: The True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt’