-Sukhdeep Singh
Archie Comics has finally decided to “keep up with time” by introducing a gay character Kevin Keller. Dunno Y…Na Jaane Kyun is also going to be released soon in India. Already dubbed the Brokeback Mountain of Bollywood, it is going to test hitherto uncharted waters. The directors and producers remain tense as to the reaction that the Indian audience would give, especially in the small cities. Irrespective of whether audiences give it a thumbs up or thumbs down, it will surely help bring the homosexuality debate out of the closet. Here is a list of other such things that we would like the Indian entertainment industry to churn out.
Ekkta’s Gay Serial– Before the reality shows and IPL took over control of the idiot box’s prime time, Ekkta Kapoor’s K
serials ruled the charts. Be it Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki or Kyunki Saas… whole of India remained hooked to it. Then came Jassi Jassi Koi Nahi to topple the K’s and now Balika Vadhu. Apart from the K’s, all of Ekkta’s Serials (and those that knocked them out of 1 slot) had one thing in common. They were all women centric, where men were mere puppets in the hands of wives and mothers and in-laws! Even now, pick-up any serial (even if it is a comedy), and it will be a women centric one. It is time to have a male centric serial. And with the central character as a gay man, the serial will pack enough drama and emotions to sustain it for years. Not only will it be a welcome change from all those episodes of backbiting women always planning something evil, but with the whole nation hooked to a serial with its central character as gay, we can surely hope for changed perceptions among the masses. Now the million dollar question is, ‘Is Ekkta Kapoor ready to take the plunge?’
Adnan Sami’s Gay Music Video– With his Tera Chehra album, he shot a song with almost all the leading actresses of Bollywood. The man has a golden voice, and if he could romance these ladies from Bollywood, then why not break the barriers? He did make a video with Amitabh and Govinda, but that wasn’t quite on the lines we want. The man has already shed a lot of kilos and we would like to see the slim and toned Adnan romancing the likes of John, Shahid, Imran and Ranbir; with a beautiful romantic track in the background. Given the magic of his voice, people surely won’t mind the video much, as they would be mesmerized by the songs. After all, didn’t Katy Perry’s I kissed a girl ruled the charts and made her a star, despite the lesbian video.
Chacha Chaudhary– Archie is introducing a gay character finally; wouldn’t it be interesting to have a
gay character in our own Desi comic too? We surely don’t mean Pran and Diamond Comics to suddenly change the orientation of Chacha Chaudhary and bring a gay twist to his and Sabu’s relation. But it would be interesting to note how the man whose brain works faster than a computer responds upon encountering a gay character in his life (may be some grandson of his), especially since Chacha here would represent an older generation. Would this intelligent and wise man use his wisdom and wit to spread awareness among the people? We may never know the answer, unless of course Diamond Comics tries to keep up with time and comes out with such an edition.
Advertisements– We did have the gay friendly ads of Amul and Hindustan Times being aired after the 377 ruling, but this time we ask for more. How about a Wild Stone ad with the seduction being of a man instead, or something from Armani collection celebrating the diversity… After all, during Valentine’s Day they did come up with an advertisement with heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual love being showered in the same ad. Why not do something on similar grounds here?
An Out and Proud Celebrity- Enough of going by rumors and being fed on grapevine. After years of speculation,
even Ricky Martin has come out. Another Olympic swimmer also decided to let it all out. We have Neil Patrick Harris, Adam Lambert, Elton John and the list continues. But still, for a country of 1 billion and with an entertainment industry that produces the maximum number of films in the whole world, there’s hardly any out and proud celebrity to turn up to. We have had Madhur Bhandarkar include gay characters in his movies about fashion industry, but bollywood is still to come out of closet. Enough of all the rumors. For once, let the question about privacy and personal choice take a backseat. We will love to tweet too, with our tweets reading: ‘I always knew it’ to ‘Glad he is finally out’. But for that, our stars need to gather some courage. At least draw some inspiration from Ricky Martin.
P.S. This article had appeared in the May 2010 issue of Gaylaxy. Almost a year later, finally Indian TV soap Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak? brings in a gay angle, where the lead character is shown to be a homosexual and has to deal with issues like coming out to family and leading a closet, married life.