26 May,2011 10:44 AM IST | | Sheena Thomas
Director Shyam Benegal likes to keep things 'straight'. But this time, he's gearing up to promote a film festival which is zara hatke.
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The man, who is a patron for the Queer Film Fesival that kicked off yesterday, tells CS that he's open to making a film on homosexuality:
Law and behold
It's unfortunate that the homosexual community in India isn't treated fairly. This is despite the Delhi High Court decriminalising homosexual acts under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in 2009. We're even embarrassed to discuss the subject, and when we do, we only pass snide remarks on people who are gay or lesbian. I guess it's going to take time before we start seeing them as normal, regular people. Most of us are homophobic and happy to be so.
Ain't no mountain high enough
Hindi cinema too hasn't done justice to stories based on LGBT issues. But I guess it's not something that can happen overnight. Even Hollywood took a long time to sensitise themselves to similar themes. Before Brokeback Mountain, there really wasn't any mainstream film on the subject. And it needed a heavyweight filmmaker like Ang Lee to take the risk and create a trend.u00a0
A gay tale
Our films can either reinforce prejudices or break them. I would be happy to make a film on the subject if I'm given a good script that looks at the relationship between homosexuals. The idea is to understand their feelings and emotions, instead of looking at them like they are specimens in a zoo.
