LGBT Representation In Bollywood

lgbt representation in bollywood

'All the characters, incidents and places in these films are fictitious.

Resemblance to any person living or dead or any incident or place is purely coincidental’ Because most are TOO STEREOTYPICAL to be true anyway.

GAY MEN IN

BOLLYWOOD

EVIL GAY

THE HEARTBREAKER

(OF THE STRAIGHT GIRL ONLY)

-Will seduce your boyfriend -Will seduce your dude best friend -Will seduce your husband

OR

SHINING EXAMPLES

Life..In A Metro Page 3 Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. Bombay Talkies

Marry you without telling you he is gay anyway.

*sizzle*

I’M COMING LADIES.......

PROFESSION

Any urban creative or glamorous profession like advertising professional or RJ or model that allows sexual experimentation.

FUNNY GAY Forever lusting after the hero inspite of hero’s rebukes

Provider of crude comedic relief and official butt of jokes

Wears either flowery Hawaian shirts or an excessively well maintained pink suit

Excessively effeminate and flamboyant

PROFESSION Either a loafer with no purpose in life but to hit on men or a fashion designer

SHINING EXAMPLES Dostana Bol Bachan Student Of The Year Every second comedy flick

the scandal angle

aapka beta gay hain !

AND WHO DOESN’T REMEMBER KANTA

BEN

WHY CAN’T THEY BE GAY?

WHY CAN’T THEY GET A SERIOUS BOLLYWOOD ROMANCE INSTEAD OF A COMEDY?

WHY CAN’T MR.FLAMBOYANCE ACTUALLY BE STRAIGHT AND GET THE GIRL?

WHY COULDN’T

kanta bai THE DOOR?

JUST CLOSE

WHAT REALLY WAS SO SCANDALOUS ?

LASTLY WHY ARE GAY MEN ALWAYS FASHION DESIGNERS? WHY CAN’T THEY BE...

POLICEMEN

TEACHERS

ENGINEERS

CEOS

WRITERS

from reel life to real life

STOP ACTING LIKE A GIRL, DUDE! IT’S SO GAY!

THAT SHIRT IS SO GAY!

YOU ARE TOO MUCH OF A

MARD TO BE GAY. HOW CAN YOU BE GAY?

THERE ARE GAYS IN OUR MOHALLA ?!

THIS IS NOT A CITY. THIS IS NO PLACE FOR PEOPLE LIKE THESE

lesbians in

bollywood

...

1. NON-EXISTENT

2. for m a l e t i t t i l a t i o n o n l y

BECAUSE ACCORDING TO BOLLYWOOD LESBIANS EXIST IN XXXVIDEOS.COM ONLY AND NOT IN REAL LIFE. HENCE QUEER WOMEN MAKE APPEARANCES ONLY IN SOFT PORN THRILLERS OR LESBIAN KISSES ARE INCLUDED PURELY FOR SENSATIONALIZATION THUS DELUDING AUDIENCES INTO THINKING HOMOSEXUALITY IN WOMEN IS OKAY ONLY IF IT IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBJECTIFICATION BY MEN.

3.REALISTIC ON RARE OCCASSIONS

BUT

WHILE DOSTANA CREATED RIOTS OF LAUGHTER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LGBT COMMUNITY.......

MOVIES LIKE FIRE THAT EXPLORED A REAL LESBIAN RELATIONSHIP CREATED RIOTS IN THE COUNTRY.

LITERALLY.

WHY ARE THERE NO POSITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF QUEER WOMEN AT ALL IN MAINSTREAM BOLLYWOOD? WILL THERE BE A DAY WHEN......

TWO

WOMEN

GET A QUINTESSENTIALLY BOLLYWOOD

HAPPY

ENDING?

from reel life to real life

YOUR’E JUST JOKING. YOUR’E NOT ACTUALLY LESBIAN

WHAT IS A LESBIAN?

I’M NOT INTERESTED. I AM A LESBIAN!

OH I LOVE LESBIANS! SO HOT *DROOL*

transgenders in

BOLLYWOOD

THE EUNUCH The butt of crude humour and humiliation

Aggressive and prone to harassing people

Claps hands loudly all the time

JOB OPPORTUNITIES Sex Workers Beggars Professional Blessing Givers Pimps

BOLLYWOOD TIPS ON HOW

TO BE FUNNY #1

GET AN ACTOR TO CROSS DRESS

OR GET A EUNUCH TO MAKE FUN OF

OR

BOBBY DARLING

remember bobby darling?

Her humiliation was not limited to her roles only.

Translated excerpts from an interview with Bobby Darling on Carry On Shekhar, a talk show hosted by Shekhar Suman in 2011 in which he (not so subtly in true Bollywood style) mocks her transgender identity and proceeds to use a male pronound for her throughout the show.

SS- Please welcome Pankaj Sharma as the hot sexy Bobby Darling!.....You are beautiful from every angle, from every corner but I don’t know whether ,in English, to call you beautiful or handsome! *cue laughter* BD-Whatever.

SS-Whatever? Whatever will not do the work. You decide what I should call you. But you are not actually Bobby Darling. This is a different avatar of you. I know that in reality, you are Pankaj Sharma! *mocking voice* SS-When people see you cross dressing in society, men will harass you, even women will harass you. How do you feel? Do you like it? Do you want ME to harass you? *cue laughter* BD- ....I want to enjoy my life. It is the only one that I have.....

SS- And you have turned your one life into two lives! *cue laughter* The interview proceeds into a re-enactment of how Bobby Darling is harassed over the phone by men, done in standard Bollywood manner.

TRANSPHOBIA IN BOLLYWOOD IS NOT LIMITED TO <!-- Generator: Adobe Illustrator 18.0.0, SVG Export

OH! I FORGOT THAT BISEXUALS AND TRANS-MEN EXIST.

JUST LIKE

BOLLYWOOD DID.

BOLLYWOOD HAS HAD SOME SENSITIVE AND NUANCED REPRESENTATIONS OF LGBT CHARACTERS IN THE PAST. BUT THE QUESTION IS IN A COUNTRY WHERE MAINSTREAM CINEMA HAS SUCH INFLUENCE ON THE PUBLIC .....

ARE SUCH REPRESENTATIONS, EVEN IF PURELY FOR THE SAKE OF COMEDY, ADDING TO THE STIGMA AND STEREOTYPING OF THE ALREADY OSTRACISED LGBT COMMUNITY? IS IT TIME TO CHANGE IT?

BY DEBASMITA DAS