Filmmaker Onir: Actors Are Insecure About Playing Gay Characters In Bollywood
Onir says that male actors in Bollywood are still insecure about playing gay roles. The director said a film based on LGBTQ characters can get a mainstream release but good actors avoid such roles.
Filmmaker
Onir
said
Thursday
that
male
actors
in
Bollywood
are
still
insecure
about
playing
gay
roles.
The
director
said
a
film
based
on
LGBTQ
characters
can
get
a
mainstream
release
but
"good
actors" avoid
such
roles.
"I
have
had
many
narrations
with
these
mainstream
male
actors
and
they
refused
it.
The
fear
of
what
it
can
become
still
holds
them.
And
this
is
why
I
really
have
a
lot
of
respect
for
all
those
actors
who
say
yes
to
these
roles,"
Onir
said
at
a
panel
discussion
on
the
third
day
of
FICCI
Frames
event.
Filmmakers
like
Hansal
Mehta,
Sridhar
Rangayan,
writer
Gazal
Dhaliwal
and
veteran
actor
Shabana
Azmi
were
also
a
part
of
the
panel
which
discussed
on
the
topic
'Celebrating
Rainbow:
The
Seven
Shades
of
Content'.
Dhaliwal,
who
wrote
Ek
Ladki
Ko
Dekha
To
Aisa
Laga,
urged
mainstream
male
stars
to
take
up
well-written
gay
characters.
"It
is
all
about
business
and
what
works
is
what
sells
and
reaches
the
audience.
Because
of
the
patriarchy
we
live
in,
the
masculine
ego
is
really
fragile
and
that's
the
reason
they
refuse
to
take
up
gay
characters," Dhaliwal
added.
Dhaliwal
further
said
the
representation
too
needs
to
change
on
screen.
"Our
mainstream
cinema
needs
to
become
responsible
in
representing
LGTBQ
characters.
Till
the
time
there
is
general
sensitisation
among
audience,
we
should
refrain
from
creating
characters
like
in
'Dostana',
where
it
is
all
about
laughing,"
Dhaliwal
said.
Rangayan,
who
has
made
films
on
queer
subjects
like
The
Pink
Mirror
and
Yours
Emotionally,
said
he
faced
trouble
in
releasing
his
films.
His
latest
film
Evening
Shadows
is
streaming
on
Netflix.
However,
he
thinks
with
Section
377
being
decriminalised,
things
are
changing
better.
"Things
are
moving
from
the
sidelines
and
darkness
to
the
mainstream
with
a
film
like
'Ek
Ladki
Ko
Dekha
Toh
Aisa
Laga'.
It
has
opened
the
minds
of
people
to
watch
the
films
in
theatres
but
the
whole
commerce
hasn't
happened
yet," he
said.
Shabana
Azmi,
who
was
part
of
Deepa
Mehta's
film
Fire,
also
believes
things
are
changing
for
the
better.
"With
'Fire',
there
was
an
attempt
to
capitalise
on
it
and
some
sleazy
films
were
made
and
they
did
not
do
well.
I
think
cinema
is
a
reflection
of
society
and
it
gets
shaped
by
society.
Both
are
opening
up
to
this," she
said.