Bollywood Is Full Of Double Standards Towards The LGBTQ Community, Says Director Onir
Onir says Bollywood is full of double standards where a lot of influential people belong to the gay community but are not forthright in their support. Onir says the industry is full of homophobes too.
Film-maker
Onir
says
the
film
industry
is
"full
of
double
standards" where
a
lot
of
the
influential
people
belong
to
the
gay
community
but
are
not
forthright
in
their
support.
Onir,
who
has
spearheaded
movies
with
LGBTQ+
narratives,
says
the
industry
is
full
of
homophobes.
"Industry
is
full
of
double
standards.
A
lot
of
people
of
influence
belong
to
the
community
but
you
don't
find
that
forthright
support
come
in.
There
are
a
lot
of
people
who
are
also
homophobic.
Politically
everyone
will
say
the
right
things
but
in
action
that's
missing,"
Onir
told
PTI.
The
film-maker
was
speaking
on
the
sidelines
of
the
20th
edition
of
the
JIO
MAMI
Mumbai
Film
Festival.
He
was
part
of
a
panel
discussion
'Pushing
the
envelope
on
LGTBQ
cinema
in
India'.
The
My
Brother
Nikhil
director
says
the
reason
big
stars
have
shied
away
from
featuring
in
a
film
with
LGTBQ
narratives
is
that
a
lot
of
them
are
"not
comfortable
with
that
idea".
"Today,
how
many
people
actually
supported
the
SC
verdict?
You
don't
have
to
be
gay
to
support
it.
That
shows
there's
a
bit
of
discomfort,
fear
of
being
perceived
in
a
certain
way
and
losing
out
on
an
audience,
which
doesn't
happen.
There's
this
insecurity
in
a
lot
of
people.
They
don't
see
these
films
as
something
that
can
churn
money," he
says.
Onir
laments
that
the
percentage
of
such
films
being
made
in
India
is
abysmal.
"At
the
end
of
the
day,
it
took
Fawad
Khan
to
come
from
Pakistan
and
do
a
film
here.
And
it
is
wonderful
but
India
is
the
largest
film
producing
country
in
the
world
but
the
percentage
of
such
films
is
minuscule."
Another
problem,
according
to
the
film-maker,
is
the
lack
of
acknowledgment
for
actors
who
take
up
parts
of
homosexual
characters.
"None
of
the
mainstream
festivals
acknowledged
my
films
or
the
actors
playing
these
roles.
When
an
actor
is
taking
such
roles
and
still
not
getting
recognised
because
he
or
she
is
not
a
big
enough
star,
it
discourages
risk
taking
as
the
industry
doesn't
celebrate
it
and
more
often
ignores
it," he
adds.
Onir
says
though
the
Supreme
Court
has
decriminalised
Section
377
of
the
Indian
Penal
Code
that
criminalises
consensual
gay
sex,
things
would
not
change
overnight.
"There's
a
long
way
to
go.
It's
not
that
after
377,
everything
will
become
easy.
What
has
happened
now
is
that
it
has
empowered
a
lot
of
us
and
we
wish
to
see
things
change.
It'll
take
time,
but
it'll
happen,"
he
added.