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India's Pioneering Director of The Pink Mirror Gulabi Aaina Sridhar Rangayan is the Director of The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina) India's first film about Transgenders.
As far as the nice kid from Bangalore, he is still a 'nice man' in Bombay! Actually I came to Bombay to do my Masters at IIT (India's premium technological institute) in Visual Communication. Though I graduated as an engineer, my inclinations have always been towards the arts. It shocked my parents quite a bit that their dear son will not be a good old engineer and is hell bent on pursuing arts where they didn't see much future. Filmmaking was one of the subjects in the master's degree course and I felt very close to the medium as I have always been passionate about movies. Like a true engineer, I approached my film career with much more logical-planning and foundation-building than most of the budding over-eager filmmakers who plan their first feature even before they manage to hold a clap board straight! I trained under internationally acclaimed directors Sai Paranjpye, Kalpana Lajmi and Dev Benegal. What perhaps I have imbibed from them are the intrinsic humour of Sai, narrative style of Kalpana and the technical cutting-edge of Dev. After four years of apprenticeship and a short term course at the Film & Television Institute of India, I was all set to launch off on my own. What followed was an exciting two year stint with television as a writer / director / producer. Over 25 one-hour telefilms for mini-series on prime Indian channels covering diverse narrative genres - comedy, drama, romance and thrillers. A couple of my telefilms like Piya ka Ghar which won a RAPA award for best Comedy in 1999 and Masala Maami has had more than 12 repeat telecasts. Khamoshiyaan, a soft sensitive story about a hearing-impaired woman's relationship with her husband who doesn't want her, won me the second RAPA award for the Best Telefilm in 2000. But somehow post 2000, the entire television programming in India changed dramatically with regressive soap operas ruling the roost and the channel executives exercising their creative control over every aspect of the project. The director was lost in this corruption of creativity and the race for TRPs.
Moreover no channel was willing to experiment with different and challenging subjects. This factor, above all, was the catalyst in me embarking upon my debut 'independent' film. I said what the hell, if nobody wants to do it, let me do it on my own. That's how Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror) - India's first film on Drag Queens, was born.
Actually making this film has been a confluence of me as an artist and as a filmmaker. Having been one of the Founder Trustees of The Humsafar Trust (India's first and premier gay NGO) and having been an intrinsic part of Bombay Dost (India's first and only published gay newsletter), I have always been dabbling with gay issues in my writings - short stories, poems and articles. So making a gay film was always on my mind. In fact I took a gay love story to an Indian television channel for one of their telefilm slots on relationships. They liked the story, but felt their channel, being a family channel, could not program such a subject at this point! Hypocrisy is never at a premium in India! Of course we never got down to doing that story, but the fact that we need to do a film that dealt with queer content was playing on my mind all along. Gulabi Aaina was a natural outcome of this need. Raj Ayyar: Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror) has enjoyed acclaim and showings in several major Western metros, including Vancouver and San Francisco. Yet, it remains banned in India. Why? Sridhar: Actually the real excitement of making the film has been after making the film! Reaching it out. A whole world of film festival circuits opened up for me and my partner Saagar. After instant selection in the first three festivals we sent to, we were flooded with inquiries from various film festivals all over the world. Our film has already been selected to screen in 12 international film festivals within the six months since it was completed. It has been heartening that we have had a 70% success rate at the festivals we sent to and at some festivals our film was one of the 200 films that were selected from 2000 entries! For us it was an amazing feat, actually beyond our expectations, for a really low-budget film. It was also picked by the Busan Asian Short Film Festival, a non-LGBT film festival that showcases the best of Asian short films. We have had tremendous response at San Francisco, Vancouver, Turin, Zurich, Busan, etc. and we were riding pretty high till a rude shock brought us down to earth. The film was banned in India!
But my film Gulabi Aaina deals with characters that are very much Indian, middle-class Indians to be precise, and their desire for men is something they express with no shame or regret. The drag queens and the gay boy in my film offer no apologies for what they are - they are neither glorified nor denigrated. Homoeroticism is as much a part of them as their zest for dance and drama. Perhaps this is what got the censor's goat and the fact that homosexuality 'objectifies' men and pulls them down from their patriarchal thrones! The cinch is what an officer of the censor board said: "Even if you were dealing with a subject like this, you should have said without saying and shown without showing"!! I told him that then there would be no film at all! Raj Ayyar: The queens in Gulabi Aaina give dance performances to the accompaniment of tawaif (courtesan) music from different Bollywood films including Umrao Jaan. Do you see a meeting ground, a cusp between the drag queen and the hetero courtesan cultures? Sridhar: Actually this question leads us directly to ancient and medieval Indian history. Cross dressers figure even in Vatsayana's Kamasutra (Chapter 9) where he says that the one who takes on the form (rupa) of women behave like women in their dress, adornments, manner, tone of voice, sweetness, timidity and shyness (Same Sex Love in India edited by Ryth Vanita & Saleem Kidwai) In medieval times, eunuchs (khwaja-saras) were the guardians of the harem (zanankhana) and the official messengers between the kings' palace and the harem, where men were not allowed. Of course drag queens should not be misidentified as eunuchs who are actually castrated males and belong more to the cult of 'hijras'. Also in traditional folk forms like Nautanki and Ramlila, men used to drag and play the part of women because women were not allowed to perform in public. Even in the early stages of Indian cinema, we had men playing female parts - like Balgandharva and Master Vittal. These were men who put on drag out of artistic compulsions. Their sexual orientation was never a question. The drag queens in my film are 'kothis' or 'maharanis' who identify themselves as a woman in love with a man. So their immediate identification is with the Bollywood divas and their acts of seduction - a song and dance being a natural form of this seduction! Every queen worth her salt will give her left leg to be Rekha or Madhuri Dixit or Meena Kumari! In a way, my film is a tribute to these Bollywood divas who are gay icons. Raj Ayyar: The AIDS angle in the film is handled with consummate mastery and you manage to avoid saccharine and mawkishness. In fact, the discussion of Shabho's newly discovered HIV+ status ends on a celebratory 'the party must go on tonight!' note. Any comment? Sridhar: Thank you for your comment. It is very heartening to realize that we are on the same wavelength. Because, the HIV/AIDS angle in the film has been a point of much debate. Whether at screenings in Bombay at the Humsafar Center and Gay Bombay or in London at the Naz Project, there has been a divide. Some feel that the HIV angle is too briefly introduced and not done justice to. Others feel that it was not necessary at all to introduce the issue. For me as an activist I know how much HIV/ AIDS impacts the queer community in a real day-to-day life and that is a fact that cannot be ignored. As a filmmaker, I had intended Gulabi Aaina to be a funny campy film that would be a celebration of lives of the drag queens and not a preachy boring documentation of their life. It was a fine balance treading the line. In the end I am happy that we did speak about the issue but also gave the message that there is life after a positive diagnosis too and that the bonding between the drag queens will always remain there. They are there for each other - through thick and thin. 'The party must go on tonight' is also a comment on the initial denial phase most of the positive people go through, especially queens who kind of brush it under the carpet and immerse themselves in joi de vivre. This is rather sad because then real intervention is never sought in time. Raj Ayyar: Indian cinema has occasionally broken free of the drearily formulaic heterosexual mode with films like Mahesh Bhatt's Tamana (about hijras--India's traditional transgender community) and Mahesh Dattani's Mango Souffle. Have you been influenced by these or other predecessors?
At around the same time as Tamanna was being made, I was working with Kalpana Lajmi on Darmiyaan, a film about a hermaphrodite and his refusal to join the clan of hijras. I wrote most of the parts in the screenplay dealing with hijjras and the hermaphrodite man and tried to bring a balance between the dramatic plot and queer sensibilities. But after I left the project because of creative differences with the director, a lot of changes happened and Darmiyaan finally emerged as a somewhat homophobic film where most of the characters are shamed or commit suicide. What is interesting is that the seed of Gulabi Aaina lies in Darmiyaan. Two characters in that film - Gulabo and Noorie, which I had developed then, are actually Bibbo and Shabbo of Gulabi Aaina. Their characters were never meted full justice in Darmiyaan, but finally blossomed in my independent film because there were no commercial or creative controls here. Though there have been no influences from queer films, I have been greatly influenced by the humour in Sai Paranjpye's films that also finds expression in most of my works. Even in Gulabi Aaina, much of the situational humor is very Sai Paranjpyesque. In fact I showed it to Sai and asked her whether she would be offended by the fact that I say that this film was inspired by her films. She said emphatically, "Of course not. I would be proud of it" and she also said, "The two drag queens are really sensitively portrayed and I liked the multi-layered aspect of the film". Raj Ayyar: There was a nice balance between bitchiness and real caring in Gulabi Aina. Not only is the film gay-positive, it captures and celebrates the drag queen in her full glory. Do you think there's a bright future for drag in India? Sridhar: Drag Queens, in real life, are like quicksilver. They are extremely fluid, in a constant state of flux… riding high on a wave of happiness now and the next moment burrowed deep in a crest of sadness. This is their strength and weakness. The bitching and bonding is also an aspect of this quicksilver personality. As the logline of our film Gulabi Aaina reads: "Men bring out the best in Queens… and sometimes their worst". One moment Shabbo and Bibbo could be like alley cats clawing at each other and the next they would reach out to each other like only sensitive caring human beings would. They are there for each other till eternity. Call them sisters or mother and daughter, they share a special bonding… an alternate family bonding. We really wanted to capture this aspect in our film. Instead of people laughing 'at' the drag queens, we wanted them to laugh 'with' them. Also we wanted to make a film that queens will be proud to call it their own. That's why I was very touched when after a screening at The Humsafar Center to over 120 queens, many of them came up to me and said, "For the first time someone has captured us the way we are - both the bad side and good side; the tears and happiness. In 40 minutes, we lived a part of our lives" Drag queens have a long way to go before they are integrated into the mainstream with no shame or ridicule. Hijras are more acceptable, because they are seen as the third sex, but drag queens who are men who desire men are not treated too kindly. I would like various organizations to use our film 'Gulabi Aaina' as a sensitization tool in their programs of understanding diversity. Raj Ayyar: You know Sridhar, I loved the steamy eroticism of some of the scenes in the film. No suck and fuck sequences, but the aftermath of the shower scene where Mandy stretches out on the floor to peer at Samir's bulge underneath the bath towel. Or, the scene where Mandy sweeps the floor with come-on deliberateness, almost thrusting his ass into Samir's face. Samir sits there, aroused and hypnotized by Mandy's swiveling and needy ass, ignoring the two older drag queens who have the hots for him. Do you think the Indian Censor Board will mature to a stage where they allow eroticism (within context) on screen? Sridhar: Are you kidding? Not as long as it is controlled by right-wing patriarchal bureaucrats. It is not the censor board, but it is the society that needs to change. It needs to take a second look at archaic and often Victorian morals and behavior codes. In India, just like there is pluralism of languages, there is pluralism of gender and sexual orientation. I wish that this understanding comes sooner and the closet doors are open to let the rainbow shine brightly. Raj Ayyar: Tell us a little about your next gay themed film.
I am working on two platforms: Mainstream films - A humorous romantic love story (yes, a heterosexual one!) and a cyberspace action thriller. These are being considered by a couple of Indian production houses and hopefully they should greenlight them soon. Secondly I am planning a series of 7 short films with queer content. In fact Gulabi Aaina is the first in this series that would cover the rainbow of the gay spectrum of Bombay. The next in this series would be one on a gay couple and after that a film on hijras, married gay men, old queers, etc. I am pitching for funding for this series (anyone out there?!!) And God Bless the day the two meet and I can find a producer to back a full-length mainstream gay film (Yes I have a script for that ready too !!) Raj Ayyar: Sridhar, India is a country with a long history of same-sex bonding and love. Yet, this culture of 'yaari' and 'sakhyani' has some of the most homophobic and sex-phobic attitudes and laws. Any comments on this contradiction? Sridhar: I have a feeling that the root of this problem is that we Indians do not have a sense of history. Don't go by what the slogan-shouting leaders who say "we must preserve our history and culture". It is just a catchphrase and more often than not 'history and culture' only stands for 'religion'! We Indians, and I obviously include myself in it, do not have a sensitive understanding of our history and a perpetuation of it. If you look around, most of the important books and treatises on Indian history, culture and tradition are discovered, analyzed and commented upon by western scholars. The day we develop a sense of pride and belonging to our history, we will be much more of a happy and liberated society. Raj Ayyar: Do you see the new Indian gay movements actively challenging the deafeningly loud silence surrounding same-sex love in India? Any response to the Naz Foundation's legal challenge to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code--that outdated colonial sodomy law? Sridhar: Let me make a correction: repeal to Section 377 has been filed by Naz India Trust in New Delhi which has no connections with Naz Foundation International, London. Naz India along with the Lawyers Collective and support of a network of NGOs including Humsafar Trust has challenged the law. But I personally feel that even as we attempt to change laws, we must primarily change attitudes in the society. A large scale grass-roots sensitization process has to be initiated. Also how can we get laws changed with no lobbying powers. Tell me how many ministers or powerbrokers have we been able to get on our side? Winning a random case here or there is great, but to get Section 377 repealed is a very challenging task. This can happen only if all the gay NGOs in India network together along with gay sympathetic organizations dealing with human rights and allied issues. Raj Ayyar: What is your view of Ashok Row Kavi's role as the original mover and shaker behind the new Indian gay consciousness? What about some of the newer groups like GAY (Good as You) based in Bangalore? Sridhar: Ashok has been the first, and even now the most consistently visible, spokesperson for the gay community. Earlier when he talked about gay men in India, everybody said they exist only in Ashok's mind! The gay landscape has definitely undergone a transformation and the society is at least lot more aware of queer people and their concerns, at least the literate class. But it is not complete tolerance and acceptance yet. The problem actually lies within the community. Ashok started off on an untread, unchartered path in the 80s when it was considered disgraceful to admit to one's homosexual identity openly. To be frank, even after two decades, there are only a handful of gay men and women who are out. But the funny part is there is at least over 100 gay organizations headed and operated by faceless people. How these closeted people can take the gay liberation movement forward is anybody's guess. I am happy they are all there and forming local support structures, but I think it is important that more people stand up fearlessly and speak up. The internet, though has opened a global network, has in fact pushed the Indian gay liberation behind by quite a few years. We are now hiding behind anonymous chat room names and 'I am free at 8'0clock for half an hour' encounters. I wonder whether this is a positive sign. And then of course 'metrosexuality' is a convenient façade and an asexual mask.
It would of course be delightful to have an Indian lesbian film made by a lesbian here. Come on what are you girls waiting for? It can be done! Raj Ayyar: Sridhar, is it possible to synthesize the best of Western-style gay liberation with the warmth, the sentimentality and the romanticism of Indian same-sex traditions? If so, how? Sridhar: I really hope so. We don't want to lose out on what we have, to gain something else. At least in Mumbai metro, there surely is a sharp divide between the westernized self-identified gay male and the more Indian counterpart, the kothis with the middle-class gay men somewhere in between. Everybody is searching for their own identity. However much we don't like this, there is surely a polarization. In fact this is one of the issues my film Gulabi Aaina tackles. It shows the divide between the two drag queens who are very much Indian as against the westernized gay teenager Mandy. In the film the outcome is very positive with the drag queens taking the gay teenager under their wings in a familial bonding and giving away their prize catch in an act of motherly affection. This perhaps is more on a fantasy level and I sincerely hope it will soon be a reality with all the different identities co-existing under a common umbrella (and yes, please paint that umbrella with rainbow colors!) Raj Ayyar: Is there anything else you would like to share with readers of GayToday? Sridhar: Just the fact that I have immensely enjoyed sharing some of my thoughts about queer issues and about my film Gulabi Aaina with readers of GayToday. I do hope very soon I will be able to share my film too with them. Watch out guys, the film might hit a store near you or perhaps you can order copies online. That is, if I can find a distributor who believes in Indian independent queer cinema. And of course let me keep my fingers crossed that the ban on my film imposed by the censor board is lifted and I can share my film with audiences here in India too. Raj Ayyar: I've enjoyed this interview. Thank you. |
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Indian Director Sridhar on the set of his groundbreaking film The Pink Mirror
Sridhar fought with the Delhia Censor Board, which refused to give a censor certificate to The Pink Mirror
Sridhar says that Indian mainstream cinema remains homophobic, and prior to The Pink Mirror, drag queens only were portrayed for laughs 
Scene from Sridhar's The Pink Mirror
Interviewer Raj Ayyar