The list that I gave above was on the basis of my understanding of your personality. All those movies are strong emotional dramas or romance genre, with some mild comedy.

If you like movies of other genres, Bollywood still has a plenty to offer. While it may be safe to say that 90% of Bollywood production is trash, some of the rest 10% are really really good!

The only one I can be certain of having seen (I’ve seen a number on long flights to the SubContinent, but I’m afraid I can’t always remember the titles) is Lagaan, and I have to say that although it was mildly entertaining (if too long), I found the crude race and class stereotypes – and hopeless historical constuming – prevented it from being, in my eyes, capable of being considered a good film.

Turns out that the main character in this movie is played by Anil Sharma’s younger brother, Kapil Sharma.

Also, Anil Sharma has been putting out popular movies of all kinds since the 80′s and one of them, whose name escapes me, was an animated film about krishna with the most ingenious computer engineering I’ve ever seen.

Also, a clip of his film, “Veer”, reminds me of Hollywood’s “The Terminator” starring Arnold what’s-his-name, now governor of California, I believe.

The things you learn on Pink!

1) Taare Zameen Par
2) 3 Idiots
3) Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic
4) Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham
5) Dil Se
6) Baghban
7) Black (this is based on a foreign movie, but still very beautiful)
Lagaan
9) Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
10) Jaane bhi do yaaro
11) Veer Zaara
12) Devdas

[in no particular order]

Unlike Fire and Water, all of these above are genuine Bollywood movies. And very beautiful too. There are many more that come to my mind and many more that I don’t even know of, but I hope you get the point.

[And this is from an Indian who is himself not very fond of Bollywood.]

Actually I am perfectly willing to listen to people who know how to substantiate their claims. I note you still avoid answering a straightforward question (by personal abuse, very mature of you) and will have to assume you just can’t.

I just read your other comment.

My favorite gay site is called GlobalGayz:

http://www.globalgayz.com/

I am interested in the welfare of ALL my gay brothers, as the majority of us here at pink are. I am a French-Canadian, so that our histories as colonies of Great Britain have a certain similarity. When Clive was governing India, Amherst was governing Canada (c. 1760).

Besides that, having been brought up in a rather narrow environment, I am prone to be highly curious regarding other cultures.

A few people who comment on Pink actually do use their real names, but you must have noticed that many use pseudonyms and that’s perfectly alright. Everyone has to follow his his/her own instincts. My own name is only partially true. I admire the English philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, that’s all. I especially liked his attitude towards homophobia; his was a liberating spirit at a time when ‘sodomites’ were being burnt alive at Charring Cross, and elsewhere throughout Europe.

Did you know that you can become a member of Pink, free of charge, by going to mypinknews.com, signing in using your same initials so that I will recognize you, give as little or as much information as you want in your public profile, and enjoy this site to its full extent?

If you decide to join, I will notice you and I will be in touch with you. I would like to journey with you for awhile. I am a senior.

Getting back on topic, yes, we are expected to participate in all straight events as if they are meaningful to us. My plastic took a wicked blow this past Christmas playing Santa Claus to a number of nieces and nephews, and I received practically nothing in return. Such a farce, as all religious holidays are as far as I’m concerned.

It was interesting to hear that there is not enough of a gay audience in India to keep this movie afloat. This is the kind of information that is valuable to us here in Canada. Unless we have actually visited India, Bombay, Pondicherry and even the river Ganges are only names to us; there is no reality glued to the words, only our imaginations. I suppose the same is true when you think of Canada.

Whether or not you decide to join, I enjoy chatting with you.

What I meant was, I DO want to handle this delicately!

And JPB, I have seen you show quite an interest in India related topics. Do you have a connection or an affinity with this country?

Yes, we are expected to watch straight movies, dance in their marriages, give them gifts when they have a child, and still expect to be bashed all along.

It is always a crime to be in a minority.

By the way I commented on the other pink news article (regarding Indian Supreme Court considering the issue).

As far as my identity is concerned, I am not very comfortable using my real name (because of as I said a social stigma attached to being gay). I am out to my parents and a few friends (and they all support me). This year I am hoping to come out to some of my cousins before finally taking the plunge – going to Delhi’s 3rd pride parade (with my parents).

However, I have to perform a lot of calculations in my mind before doing this. My company officially bans discrimination against LGBTs, but of course individual co-workers can become biased against me. My landlord (a very busy man) is absolutely unconcerned by what I and my roommates do with the flat, as long as we pay him the rent. But if I out myself now , I might find it difficult to get newer roommates (my present roommates are both about to get married).

So, at this moment let me remain anonymous. I will definitely come out on this forum too once I am out at the pride parades. But I don’t want to handle it delicately.

As far as enough gay Indian audience goes, I don’t think we are there yet. I don’t remember Milk or Brokeback Mountain being huge commercial successes in India.

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National.aspx

Good to hear from you.

When the “Bombay Dost” started to re-publish late last year (I do have my copy in pristine condition), I thought for sure that things were moving in the right direction in India as far as we are concerned.

Then, there were the the articles in Pink. They are listed at the end of this article as “related articles”, notably this one:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/01/21/video-india-awaits-final-ruling-on-gay-sex/

Homophobia will forever stagger my imagination, especially since we gays are such ordinary people in our everyday lives.

I could add that even here in Canada where everything is nice and legal, homophobia is as visible as ever, and not too much is being done in our education system to validate the wide spectrum of sexual orientation. See EGALE.com about that.

As far as heterosexual people seeing this movie, I have found that my relatives, and those of my same-sex partner of 20 years, are prone to worm around in their chairs when viewing even a harmless, porn-free gay-themed comedy like “A Touch of Pink” or “Inside Out” at our place. Yet, we are expected to sit through hours of straight movies as if we can identify with any of the characters.

My point being that there must be a sufficiently large enough gay audience in India to support this new movie, and to advance our cause of Equal Rights for All.

And please, don’t be a stranger.

Thanks for the feedback. I will make a point of looking up the Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, perhaps on Amazon.com.

Of course I know what you mean about the Necrology in Vito Russo’s book. Gay characters in Hollywood films are typically murdered or commit suicide, with the exception of J.Edgar Hoover who died of old age.

I was particularly surprised and forever touched by the way Molina, played by William Hurt, was shot in “The Kiss of the Spider Woman”, a 2-hour film if ever there was one which is more of a collector’s item than anything else…from Brazil, I believe.

Happy endings for gay characters are more likely these days, e.g. “A Touch of Pink”, “Inside Out”, and my personal favorite, “Trick”.

Also, a book like “Gay Cinematherapy”, The Queer Guy’s Guide to Finding Your Rainbow One Movie at a Time”, written by Jason Bergund and Beverly West, helps to put the ‘fan’ back in fantastic. On page 61, for example, we are reminded that circumstances contribute to the sharpest tongue-in-cheek comment in “Green Fried Tomatoes”: “Secret’s in the sauce” uttered by Cicely Tyson in the role of Sipsey.

But still, I do prefer gay-themed films produced by independent studios, which I presume Bollywood is not.

@ JPB: Do remember that the USA is largely a monoglot society so perhaps it’s less surprising that most films [used to] come from the one source. A great Bengali filmmaker like Ray, however, would have been as likely to make a film in Mumbai as Ingmar Bergman in Cinecitta, for roughly the same reasons I should think.

I love Russo’s book, and the telling part is his Necrology at the end, listing the way gay characters used to inevitably get killed off – unfortunately that’d even include Brokeback Mountain, wouldn’t it? A happy ending for gay characters, now there’s an original thought!