Diversity and Positivity in Representation of Indian Queerness in "Bombay Talkies"

In South Asian cultures conversations regarding sexuality are limited. Heterosexuality is rarely discussed thus making homosexuality virtually nonexistent. In a society where there is no language to understand one’s sexuality, those who do not conform to the status quo of straightness are isolated or forced to assimilate. This presents a unique challenge for those who are both queer and South Asian. Queerness is thus fragmented and under-represented in Indian media, literature, film and politics. If we see queerness on film it is often represented in regressive stereotypical forms thus encouraging queer South Asians to disown their sexual identity. Bombay Talkies brings queerness out of the closet in a manner very different from Dostana, our film from last week. The two short films in Bombay Talkies which unveil the queer identity for the Indian audience are Karan Johar’s Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh and Zoya Akhtar’s Sheila Ki Jawani. The power of short films is similar to that of short stories, the creator is required to fill every moment with meaning and no action, dialogue, or scene is wasteful. Both Johar’s and Akhtar’s films explore the complexity and darkness that comes with being South Asian and queer. While many critical reviews fail to mention queerness with relation to Akhtar’s Sheila Ki Jawani I believe her exploration of gender identity, sexuality and the constrictions placed upon South Asian sexual identities is pertinent to the sexual liberation needed in India for the wider acknowledgment and acceptance of queer culture. Johar’s Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh more directly tells a singular, complex story of both closeted and open queer Indianness. 

Bombay Talkies opens with Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh and that too with a violent scene in which one of the main characters tells his father that he is not a eunuch, he is a homosexual. The character, Avinash, then walks away initially fuming but then smiling. The short film shows Avinash as a lively, warm young man who quickly befriends his female boss. When Avinash meets his boss’s husband, Dev, whom he bonds with over shared loved of old Bollywood music Avinash quickly realizes Dev is gay and here the film takes a dark turn. Avinash kisses the husband which results in a brutal attack by the husband on Avinash. The husband stops by Avinash’s house later to apologize, is initially aggressive, kisses Avinash, and then is violent again. The camera cuts to flashbacks of Avinash being hit repeatedly by his father, the resounding slaps of his father are made very sharp and audible for the audience. With each slap from the father we flinch, just as Avinash flinches when he thinks Dev is going to hit him again. The violence Avinash experiences at the hands of two different men for different but similarly rooted reasons symbolizes the violence that is done to open queer identity in South Asian culture. The closeted gay man, Dev, struggles himself with the idea of living a lie. Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh sets a tone for Bombay Talkies that is dark, complicated and queer-centric, and unlike Dostana or other forms of media and film in India, begins to explore a more nuanced, beautiful understanding of queerness. Avinash, the openly gay man, is presented in a positive and normal light, something unprecedented for Indian film.

Sheila Ki Jawani follows Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh and tells the story of a young boy who enjoys wearing dresses, make-up and heels and dancing. While the film doesn’t explicitly address the boy’s queerness it does offer a better understanding of gender policing in India and how both boys and girls are affected by the constraints of gender; for example the boy’s sister is given less attention by the parents because their focus is on him (i.e. India being a hyper-patriarchal, misogynistic society) and the boy is forcibly constricted to male-gendered activities because of the father’s need to have a masculine son. We see a great fear in the father's eyes when he sees his son dancing in a dress and lipstick, a fear that is not present in the mother thus indicating both the power imbalance between fathers and mothers and the role of men in enforcing gender roles. The film masterfully makes the boy an extremely empathetic character and highlights his love for his sister, his inner-beauty and his fearlessness. Akhtar thus presents a complicated and positive representation of queerness and gender mixing and poses the question of what it means to be a boy or a girl, a brother or a sister, and how these roles are defined by gender. The title of the short film itself is sexual - Sheila Ki Jawani, a song that celebrates the jawani, a double entendre for female youth and virginity, of a beautiful young woman. Thus by having a young boy dancing to Sheila Ki Jawani Akhtar forces us to confront the sexuality of young Indian boys.