KOLKATA: A
documentary
about the suicide of two lesbian girls in Nandigram West Bengal in 2011 (‘…ebong bewarish’), and another focusing on three characters exploring marriage prospects while seeking same-gender partners (‘Gay India Matrimony’), illustrate how queer issues have captivated short and documentary film-makers in Bengal. Additionally, topics such as the hurdles of sex reassignment surgery (SRS) (‘Hridoy Bosot’) and the struggles faced by parents when their children come out as queer (‘Porshi Neeler Aarshinagar’), have also been explored.
How bold and diverse in terms of content choice are
filmmakers
working in this field?
Since Debalina made "Kee Katha Tahar Shathe (Sh..Sh..S(he))" in 2002, Kolkata has witnessed a surge in documentaries addressing queer issues. The list includes "Taar Cheye Se Anek Aaro… (More Than A Friend…)" (2010), "Dui Dhuranir Golpo / In-Between Days" (2012), "…ebang bewarish (…and the unclaimed)" (2013), "I Am Bonnie" (2016), "Tin Satyi… (In Fact…)" (2018), "Gay India Matrimony" (2019), "Hridoy Bosot /A Home for My Heart" (2022), and "Porshi Neeler Aarshinagar (Beyond the Blues)" (2023).
Filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh contributed to this growing body of work with his short film "Miss Man" in 2019. He continued his exploration of queer themes in 2023 with another short film titled "If", further enriching the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ issues in the city.
Sappho For Equality began producing films in 2010 with Debalina's ‘More Than A Friend…’. Minakshi Sanyal (Malobika), its co-founder, acknowledges the exceptional work being done by filmmakers like Debalina and Tathagata Ghosh, as well as the honest expressions of personal experiences by community members. “Many from the community, even amateurs, are using this media to give an honest expression to their personal experiences. Sadly, some are using this subject as a commercial tool just to be in the limelight. Sometimes they are producing titillating stuff that borders on being porn. They are doing huge injustice to our issues,” Malobika said.
Tathagata Ghosh, the director of ‘Miss Man’ and ‘If’, told TOI that he broke down by the sheer impact of Debalina’s ‘…ebong bewarish’. He emphasizes the scarcity of films made with love, care, and empathy over the years. He critiques the tokenism. “That is much like how many organizations change the colour of their logos on Pride Month, but for the rest of the year, they hardly seem to care. Even when one sees queer characters in Bengali films or shows, the makers seem to highlight that ‘inclusion’ boldly instead of letting the characters be. As a result, the characters never seem to take control of their own lives and are hence explored largely from a cishet gaze,” Ghosh explained.
According to director Sankhajit Biswas, there is a clear difference in the lens of filmmakers from within the community and those outside. “The former group is dealing with subjects like the politics of gender and the undercurrents within the community. Those of like us are making films that help to build a humane perspective of outsiders towards the community,” Biswas said.
In 2012, Biswas made ‘Dui Bhuranir Golpo’ about two young transgender friends who confronted social castration from a tender age. Viewers, who were blown away by its layers, had expected more from Biswas' ‘Hridoy Bosot’ (2022) than just an empathetic and intimate portrayal of the life of transgender Sudeb Suvana contemplating SRS. "“My first film had a lot of eccentricities and I took risks as well. When I made the film, I didn’t want to turn it into a tearjerker or one that used LGBTQ+ issues to sell it. When I started shooting, SRS was new. It took years to finish and by the time I released it, the novelty factor had worn out,” Biswas explained.
In 2016, Sourabh Kanti Dutta co-directed “I Am Bonnie” about the trials and tribulations of Bonnie who was born intersex, raised as ‘Bandana’ and became one of the finest strikers of Indian woman’s football team. A sex reassignment surgery later transformed her/him to Bonnie but left him without a home or career. “In 2016, our film made inroads into private spaces that left viewers divided. We ran the risk of being politically incorrect and fought for a year to get censorship. Directors who want to tell real stories have to take such risks. The
queer community
is not homogenous and I wish films emerging from there were more diverse,” Dutta said.
English (US) ·