Pride Month | Queer cinema’s shackles in the mainstream

Filmmakers Onir, Sridhar Rangayan, Sudha Kongara, Roopa Rao, Hitesh Kewaliya, Prashanth Varma, along with Kannada author Vasudhendra, speak about the many obstacles that other queer cinema, restricting it as a sub-genre in the mainstream

Queer cinema continues to be ‘othered’ into a sub-genre, with a sedate growth in mainstream cinema. Funding continues to be the biggest obstacle but not the only one. “Money is tied to things that are controlled by cis-hets who look at filmmaking from a certain perspective,” says filmmaker Onir, pointing out that it is a problem that arises from the notions among those who decide what should be or should not be made.

Irrespective of being made by cis-gender heterosexual filmmakers (or if it has a cis-het gaze), what the recent string of Hindi films — like Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha..., Badhaai Do, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Cobalt Blue, Maja Ma, etc — proves is that if a producer and/or star back your film, the theme being queer has fewer obstacles going forward.

Are these releases a temporary pattern, or the start of something bigger? “A bit of both. Even if it is a trend, the more people venture into this, the more it will be seen as regular,” says Shubh Mangal Zyada... director Hitesh Kewalya, who adds that he got enough support from his producers to make the film.

But one milestone is not enough in a multicultural country like India, he says, and that any attempt, whether profitable or not, helps. “Earlier attempts like Aligarh, I Am, and Fire pushed the door for my film. So every step taken paves the way for the next.”

What Hitesh says about the support of the producers cannot be undermined. When Prashanth Varma wanted to make Awe,not many were comfortable with its queer theme, he says. “They thought that it was a joke because, in many Telugu films previously, queer ideas were used as jokes,” he says adding that it matters having producers like actor Nani and Prashanti Tipirneni, who prioritise content over earnings.

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many such backers. Some filmmakers, like Roopa Rao (of Gantumootefame), opt for crowd-funding. Roopa made The Other Love Story in 2015 when the concept of a web series was nascent in India. Roopa wanted to go directly to the audience; so she chose YouTube as a platform. “I started to gather funds from friends and family, and as word spread, strangers began pitching in, including a producer from the UK,” she says. There are also exceptional cases, like Shruthi Sharanyam’s B 32 Muthal 44 Vare, which had a trans-man as one of the leads, where the Government helps with funds, something Roopa wishes happens more.

Many queer filmmakers continue to rely on independent sources. Filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan, who has been making films for over 20 years, continues to source his money — he made his first film, Gulabi Aaina, with a budget of two-and-half lakhs and his films now cost over a crore — from independent sources; even his next film Kuch Sapney Apne (a sequel to Evening Shadows) is funded by friends, family, and private investors.