Has Bollywood finally come of age as far as sex is concerned?

Are Bollywood actors and films breaking free of the prudish tag Be it depiction of sex celebs endorsing condoms or portrayal of homosexuality stars mdash and films mdash today seem to be more open to dealing with bolder subjects than earlier hitlist examines the phenomenonRanveer Singhs decision to endorse a condom has met with an encouraging responseGay portrayalLAST December when the Supreme Court passed its judgment on Section 377 recriminalising homosexuality it created a lot of furore in the countryrsquos Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender LGBT community At the time many Bollywood celebrities showed their displeasure over the SCrsquos decision as they chose to back the LGBT communityRandeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem share a kiss in Bombay TalkiesWhatrsquos interesting is that Btown celebs arenrsquot just voicing their opinions in support of homosexuality Filmmakers today are opening up to the idea of dwelling on plots surrounding samesex love For instance last yearrsquos Karan Johar film Bombay Talkies showed two leading men lock lips on screen for the first time The trend seems to continue this year with many other filmmakers following suitMonica Dogra feels that peoples thinking in the industry is progressiveFor one Hansal Mehtarsquos untitled film starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui is based on the lives of a gay couple Monica Dogra too has played a lesbian character in the short film Relapse that stars swimmerandartisteturnedandrogynousmodel Casey LeglerApart from these two films Ekta Kapoor is all set to adapt William Shakespearersquos famous play Romeo Juliet in Hindi However her take will revolve around the love story between two men Romil and JuggalSexuality not an issueClearly filmmakers are no longer reluctant to deal with supposedly taboo subjects such as homosexuality Saqib Saleem who played a young gay journalist in K Jorsquos Bombay Talkies and even had a kissing scene with costar Randeep Hooda says ldquo I donrsquot think it is a taboo anymore For an actor the most important thing is to do as many different characters as possible A characterrsquos sexuality shouldnrsquot influence his or her decision to star in the film At the end of the day itrsquos just another role and our profession is called acting for a reasonrdquoJuhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri in the film My Brother Nikhil which dealt with AIDS awarenessFilmmaker Danish Aslam chimes in that the industry has accepted bold scenes and films about homosexuality ldquoDostana was not exactly based on gay love but this commercially successful film shed some light on the issue After all films hold a mirror to the society so even as the society undergoes changes the content in films too will change Even in the West legalising gay marriages has not been easy they too have had just a few films based on the LGBT communityrdquo he saysNot shying awayAslam is also hopeful that the younger generation will take up bolder roles now ldquoNo actor dared to do a condom ad until recently but Ranveer Singh has changed that Today a new crop of actors is ready to take on challenges and if a director has a decent story to tell they wonrsquot reject the role Where my film is concerned Ekta is already on board and the script was also ready Moreover I didnrsquot face any difficulties since I am casting rank newcomers in the filmrdquo says the directorMeanwhile actress Eesha Kopphikar who played a lesbian in the film Girlfriend says that playing a homosexual was never a taboo from an actorrsquos standpoint ldquoEarlier the bone of contention was the stereotypical depiction of sex and homosexual characters in an offensive way But in recent times films have been portraying such characters in a responsible manner This is why actors are no longer hesitant to do these rolesrdquo she saysObstacleriddled pathHowever Onir who has directed films such as I Am and My Brother Nikhil feels that industry still has a long way to go as far as accepting homosexual characters is concerned ldquoA lot of directors make short films but it is not easy to make a fullfledged Bollywood film about the subject homosexuality Moreover these films star and are helmed by the socalled lsquooffbeat actors and directorsrsquo Besides big studios are still not willing to come forward and back projects dealing with such issuesrdquo he saysOnir points out that even if someone manages to release these films TV channels donrsquot show any interest in purchasing their satellite rights ldquoActors starring in mainstream cinema go into a panic mode if they realise that their role has homosexual undertones This is why I have now decided to do films which bear no relation to gay or lesbian issuesrdquo he saysHe reiterates his point by saying that a lot of known actors refused his films earlier as they were not ready to play gays or lesbians ldquoActors like Nawaz Monica Dogra Irrfan and Sanjay Suri are not your typical Bollywood actors Not worried about their image they are ready to experiment Even when you speak of directors Hansal and I are not exactly known as purveyors of commercial cinema Whenever a commercial face tries to do something different heshe draws flak for it Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi starred in Fire and they faced a public backlashrdquo he saysMonica Dogra agrees with Onir when she says that Bollywood films are not progressive ldquoExtramarital affairs and divorce are a reality within the industry now So while peoplersquos thinking is progressive the same canrsquot be said of the films being made in Bollywood When it comes to our work the film industry is left wantingrdquo