And mainstream Nepali cinema with its long tradition of portraying gay characters as comic sidekicks hasn’t helped the cause. [break]
As long as a subject or situation drew laughter from the audience, it was all fair play in the filmdom.Not, anymore!
The growing consciousness about the recent Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) issues has given rise to a surge of films that dare bring about change in the status quo, and portray social issues as homosexuality in “realistic” rather than “stereotypical” light.
With producers willing to risk their money and actors ready to experiment with different roles, some offbeat movies are being made by Nepali directors these days. So what do films like Snow Flowers, Highway and Sharir which dare to tackle contentious issues of the times have to offer?
Clearing his stance on the subject, Subarna Thapa, the director of “Snow Flowers” opined that he is not out to change the world.
“I’m not interested in showing what lesbians “do.” That’s not my agenda. I’m here to portray the ‘love’ that blossoms between two individuals,” shared Thapa, who invested two years writing the story, and believes we are already late bringing forth such issues on the screen.
A tale of two lesbians, Snow Flowers stars Nisha Adhikari and Diya Maskey in the lead roles. Along with them, Raj Ballav Koirala, Namrata Shrestha, Laxmi Giri, Nisha Sharma, Bharati Ghimire, Saugat Malla, and the CA Member and President of Blue Diamond Society Sunil Babu Pant too feature in the movie.
Sharing the same element of homosexuality in his upcoming film is director Deepak Rauniyar’s “Highway” and “Sharir,” a short film under Lalteen Productions, both written by Abinash Bikram Shah.
“In media, homosexuality is often portrayed as a subject to be laughed at and enjoyed as a spectacle, which disgusts me,” reflected Shah. “Also, I often hear that whenever someone comes out of the closet, he or she faces rejection and humiliation. I tried to deal with those stigmas through my film in a subtle manner.”
“Highway” deals with five different sub-plots, and one of which deals with homosexuality. In the movie, one of the male protagonists is desperately waiting to unite with his lover who is stranded in the middle of nowhere due to a banda.
On the other hand, “Sharir” depicts the internal conflict of an individual fighting her sexuality.
Suman Tamang, portrayed by Pooja Gurung, is under immense pressure regarding her sexuality which takes a serious toll on her mental and physical wellbeing.
Though these movies benefit from the shock value, giving them an edge in the publicity front, how kosher is it to deploy the exploitation theory in conjunction to telling a story, albeit a heartfelt one?
“The subject in itself is controversial, and bound to raise a few eyebrows. But was it a conscious decision on my part to choose this particular theme just for its sensationalistic nature? No,” said Thapa.
Nisha Adhikari who plays Kiran in Snow Flowers opined, “Call it capitalizing on or taking a risk such stories need to be told. And when it’s as sensitive a subject as homosexuality, it requires a lot of gut, determination and brains to explore such uncharted territories.”
Agreeing with her, Shah shared that the novelty of LGBT issues in Nepali film industry drew him to the subject. “As a writer/director, I like challenging myself with new stories and issues that affect our society,” said he.
Pushing the envelope, the movies hope to jolt the masses from their stupor and show the emotional lives of homosexuals as being in sync with heterosexual “normality.”
“I have a lot of gay friends, and yet doing the movie was an eye-opening experience for me. Whether you’re straight, bi or gay, it’s humanity that comes first and everything else comes next, including one’s sexuality,” gushed out Nisha whose feelings were echoed by her costar Diya Maskey.
Maskey also reiterated that nobody’s gender or its orientation has anything to do with mutual love, as it is pure. That is what they have tried to portray in the movie.
Coming to the aesthetics of the movies “Snow Flowers” and “Sharir,” both portraying sexual relationship between two girls, and elemental to the plot, how risqué are the films going to be?
Thapa responded, “The movie is definitely going to be sensual, and you can feel it in the way Nisha and Diya interact, or the longing glances they sneak at each other. But I didn’t feel the need to go explicitly to drill the subject of lesbianism into the audience.”
He believes that muting the graphical aspect of the film will not hinder the understanding of the characters or their story. He added that the crowd here has already been exposed to Hollywood and Bollywood. Therefore, they are not naïve about this issue. In fact, their knowledge will despise the movie if it is made badly.
“Don’t underestimate the audience. If your work is good, it’ll be recognized and appreciated, and seriously. That’s the only thing that matters,” added Thapa.
Viewers expect entertainment worth their money, and when social issues are woven into interesting plots, such movies manage to spark the audience’s interests.
They eventually gain acceptance, as shown by Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed and Academy Award-winning “Brokeback Mountain” and the 2010 lesbian love story, “The Kids Are All Right.”
Nepali renditions of the subject could be well received, or shunned by the audience. But it proves that the industry has people who are ready to take the chance and deal with tabooed themes.
Will they do justice to it is a wholly different story on its own.
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