First gay kiss to appear in Bollywood movie

0 CommentsPrint E-mail Xinhua, January 28, 2010
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Come May and India's popular Bollywood film industry will portray its first gay kiss in a commercial flick amid expected controversy and protests from conservatives in this country.

The film, titled "Dunno Y Na Jaane Kyun" is being made against the backdrop of a ruling of High Court in the national capital, which legalized homosexuality last year.

The two lead characters in the film are portrayed to be gay and the relationship between them is explicitly sexual.

In fact, the film would be depicting the relationship between two men with as much honesty as a heterosexual relationship, media reports said.

Director Sanjay Sharna's simple logic is: "If it were a man and a woman, they would have shown it the way it is, so why not if it' s two men? Well, they have a lot of faith in Indian audience which has matured after the amendment in Section 377. So, this will be well-timed we guess."

Kapil Sharma, who plays a struggling actor, who "compromises his morals to get ahead in the film industry", said in a recent interview that he initially struggled with the "sex scenes".

"Though I was prepared mentally, when the shoot actually began, I got nervous about doing it in front of the camera. I was especially awkward in a gay party scene," he was quoted as saying.

Despite its legalization, homosexuality is a taboo in India. And, the release of the film is expected to fuel controversy.

Manvendra Singh, one of India's leading gay rights campaigners, has said that he believed the film will provoke protests when it is released, but he welcomed the debate it will open.

"There could be a backlash, but as long as it does not show vulgarity it will go some way to sensitizing the public," he was quoted by local media as saying.

"It's Bollywood's answer to Hollywood's 'Brokeback Mountain'," summed up Pawan Sharma, a film critic.

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