Homosexuality is still illegal in India but is its film industry ready to tackle on this final taboo? Anil Sinanan finds out for The Times (London)
Is Bollywood coming out of the closet? It looks so with the release of Dostana (Friendship), a gay rom-com with four A-list stars including Shilpa Shetty and produced by Karan Johar, Bollywood’s biggest director. Of course, in Dostana two of Bollywood’s biggest heroes — John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan — only pretend to be gay to get closer to the object of their affection, Priyanka Chopra. Even so, this is daring for Bollywood as it is the first major film to address the love that dare not speak its name in such a mainstream manner.
Homosexuality remains illegal in India, and is still considered a taboo topic by many. The relevant law is Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (1860), which prohibits “unnatural offences”, defined as “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”. But Johar says he thinks the timing is right for Dostana. Section 377 is now under review in the Indian courts and, at least in the major cities, negative attitudes are changing. In an action begun in 2001 the law is being challenged in the Delhi High Court.
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From The Guardian
Jane Goody
Jade Goody, who was at the centre of last year’s Celebrity Big Brother race row after being accused of bullying Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, is to appear in the Indian version of the reality TV show.
And in a further twist, the Indian version of the reality show – called Bigg Boss - will be fronted by Shetty.
Goody is set to fly out to Mumbai today in preparation for the show, which begins at the weekend. She will be paid £100,000 for her appearance, according to today’s Sun.
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Favourite all-time female star? Most accomplished actor of all time? The best funny man? Outlook readers vote for their favourites. Namrata Joshi checks out the results.
Outlook’s Bollywood Special this year looks at the very core of commercial cinema—the Hindi film star, the one who makes or breaks a film, box-office records, and people’s hearts, whose appeal is of the moment, and enduring, time-tested and timeless, give or take a bomb or two.
And who better to tell us about it than the Hindi film audience—that unknown, amorphous mass of people who vote with their feet every Friday, first day, first show. We sought them out in Delhi and Mumbai, Lucknow and Jaipur, Bhopal and Chandigarh, and asked them to cast their vote for their favourite star of all time. We had no dearth of names, old or new, starting from post-Independence India. Towering over them all was, of course, the Big B. With 32 per cent of the votes, he won this round of the Big B-srk rivalry; Khan was a distant second with just 14 per cent votes. Big B daughter-in-law Aishwarya pipped yesterday’s diva (though some would dispute that) Madhuri Dixit to the post with 21 per cent votes to the latter’s 18 per cent. Sadly, the great stars of yore seem to have faded from the memories of our moviegoers—Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor figured behind the bland lookalikes of Gen Now.
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