Film screening in Mumbai to discuss queer inclusion in Indian cinema

A moment from the trailer of the movie. PIC COURTESY/YOUTUBE

Only in recent years have we seen some queer characters portrayed without stereotypes within Indian cinema. Rafiul Alom Rahman, director of The Queer Muslim Project (TQMP) notes, "In time, we have seen a shift where there is more content that talks about queerness or has queer characters but it's still not coming from lived experiences or led by queer people. There is a need for more support for diverse storytellers weaving new and interesting stories about queer people in India. TQMP's Queer Frames Screenwriting Lab was cultivated as an incubator to give necessary mentorship to storytellers."

The programme is a four-month hybrid screenwriting programme providing mentorship for queer writers and filmmakers across India. It culminates this weekend with in-person workshops, participant networking and a public event comprising a screening of the French film Two of Us directed by Filippo Meneghetti, and panel discussion. Rahman explains, "We're often told that queer stories will not reach a wider audience. But it's important to understand that queer people can also tell masala stories, thrillers, love stories, tales of suspense. This is [one of the notions] the programme has tried to break."

Ashutosh Shankar and Rafiul Alom Rahman

The event India X France in Pride: Powering Queer Stories in Cinema! is presented by TQMP along with the French Institute in India and Alliance Française de Bombay. The panel discussion, Pathways to Queer Inclusion in Cinema, will carry the aim forward and explore queer inclusion in Indian cinema, with notable icons from the industry including filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava who wrote and directed Lipstick Under My Burkha, Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, who acted in Made in Heaven, Uzma Khan, associate producer of Junglee Pictures, and filmmaker and programme fellow Arvind Caulagi.

He adds, "The panel will discuss how queer inclusion in cinema requires multiple stakeholders coming together across production teams in the industry, the need to nurture more diverse storytelling, and cover the situation and way forward in the industry to create this environment."

One of the participants, filmmaker Madhuvanti M, will showcase the screenplay they developed during the programme along with nine participants. They add, "Queer people have always existed, and we've always been telling stories; it's just that at a structural systemic level, we don't get support or are not given the same amount of dignity to tell a story as someone cis-gendered and heteronormative. It's not that queer stories don't have value. They don't just end up reaching anyone else who might also want to talk about it and [help to mobilise the vocabulary around queerness]."

Programme participant and filmmaker Ashutosh Shankar tells us, "In the industry, we lose a sense of care and nuance when dealing with queer people and queer narratives." This is something the programme has helped and the panel will further navigate. Rahman concludes, "Along with diversity on screen, we need to see diversity behind the screen as well."

On: Today; 5.30 pm onwards
At: Alliance Française de Bombay, Theosophy Hall, Marine Lines.
Log on to: linktr.ee/afmumbai