DOSTANA, THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTER: Censorship

by Andre Soares | | Leave a Comment     

 

John Abraham, Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan in Dostana

Agence France-Presse reports that the radical nationalist Hindu groups Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Jananagruti have succeeded in getting the International Film Festival of India, held in the old Portuguese territory of Goa, to withdraw Maqbool Fida Husain’s 1967 documentary short Through the Eyes of Painter.

Husain, 93, who has been called India’s Picasso, became enmeshed in the mid-1990s in an ugly uproar over his paintings of nude Hindu goddesses, for which he was sued and received death threats from Hindu fanatics. He currently divides his time between London and Dubai.

The 39th Goa Film Festival — all the poorer for having caved in to censorship forces — comes to a close on December 2.

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"A single bench of the high court passed the order on Friday on a writ petition filed by Khuram Khan. The court held that the movie [Dostana, top photo] propagates homosexuality, which is not only illegal in Islamic Republic of Pakistan but also considered a crime punishable by whipping, imprisonment, or even death," reported the Indian publication DNA. (Update: According to Queeristan, "the ban has been lifted for 4 theaters in Lahore. A country-wide screening will be allowed after the Pakistan Film Censor Board gives its final consent!")

Produced by Karan Johar and written and directed by Tarun Mansukhani, the Miami-set Dostana stars Bollywood idols Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham as two 100% studly heteros who must pass for two 100% swishy homos in order to rent an apartment with a hot chick (Priyanka Chopra) — whom they both end up lusting after — and to ensure that one of them will not be deported. That’s when the issue of gay marriage comes into play. (Gay marriage is illegal in Florida; so, I don’t know if the swishy studs [studly swishes?] take a side trip to Massachusetts or The Netherlands or Nepal.)

Dostana sounds like a tragedy — or worse, like I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry — but it’s been labeled a comedy. Gotta wait and see.

Official site.

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Now, Nepal? Yeah, Nepal. Check this out.

Perhaps sometime in the near future California — and Pakistan? — will be following the Nepalese trend. Now, don’t laugh at my inclusion of Pakistan. After all, history has not infrequently shown that today’s reactionary, bigoted culture may be tomorrow’s revolutionary cultural trendsetter. (Though Nepal isn’t quite a "revolutionary cultural trendsetter," yet, take a look at this The Advocate article on gays in Nepal, written a mere two years ago.) Meanwhile, self-proclaimed trendsetting California better watch it. It’s already lagging behind.

 

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by Andre Soares | November 25, 2008 | Filed Under Asian Cinema, Censorship, Film Festivals, Gay & Lesbian, Indian Cinema / Bollywood, Religion, Shorts 

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