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Issue 3, 2008
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Reel Review
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About elsewhere
Not Just ‘Another Gay Movie1’
Ponni Arasu
A review of
About Elsewhere
Priya Sen
29 mins / 2007 /English / India
Many LGBT people in India spend a significant amount
of time trying to catch every remotely LGBT-themed
film in town in theatres, film festivals and gatherings in
friends’ houses, given the paucity of images restricted to
the historic but sometimes inadequate Fire2
to the flawed and often insensitive Girlfriend3;
the comedy track of Kal ho na ho4
to the more serious My Brother Nikhil5
. With regard to documentary films a few films have been made
discussing the position of LGBT people in the country and
their rights or the lack thereof. Few other documentaries
like Nishit Saran’s Summer in my Veins, for instance, tell
poignant personal stories. It is in this context that Public
Service Broadcasting Trust, New Delhi stepped in and
commissioned various films about themes relating to
sexuality, sexual and reproductive rights and health. Priya
Sen’s About Elsewhere was made as part of this. The film has
had small screenings, showed at film festivals abroad and
had one screening on Doordarshan6. Apart from the smaller
screenings I also got to watch the film on Doordarshan. The
experience of watching a film on sexuality on Doordarshan
itself merits analysis.
About Elsewhere is not just another gay movie for many
reasons. It casually and beautifully talks of the lives and
images of queer people7
(even if you don’t read the other
endnotes, do read this one. It’s important!), while not
taking a simplistic or compartmentalised approach to this
expression. In fact, it challenges notions of fixed identities
within the sphere of sexuality and refers to sexualities as
journeys. It traverses two cities the filmmaker cherishes
as her own while not losing sight of the different cities
within the city. The film is as much about the two cities in
question as it is about sexuality. Through images, it makes
constant connections between the inhabiting of spaces and
the processes of life, including experiences of sexuality.
It juxtaposes various articulations of gender, sexuality
and desire on a popular medium such as the radio with
queer expressions that the filmmaker has experienced in
her spaces. It subtly brings in a discourse of control in
general which can then be read also within the context
of sexuality among other things through a child’s voice
showing simultaneously the idiosyncrasy and grimness of
these articulations. Using an interesting method of separate
sound and visual tracks at different points, the filmmaker
manages to leave us with a few stunning moments. The
film addresses issues of the natal family and other support
structures and the filmmaker’s perceptions of both,
not through a talking heads method, but by a barrage of
crisscrossing images that often flow with one another and
at other times aesthetically conflict with each other.
The image of the ‘shell’ is an important part of the film.
The film sometimes seems like a photograph of the inside
of the filmmaker’s personal shell that she inhabits. Having
said that, it is not a simplistic portrayal of her journey
through notions of gender and sexuality but makes clear
comments on the context of queer struggles, lives, as well
as heteronormative structures. All these articulations echo
for us as viewers, from within that shell. The filmmaker’s
voice is hardly heard in the film (except for the occasional
background sound of which she might be a part) and
neither does she provide us with her ‘personal journey’ -
a trend common among many South Asian, diasporic and
other queer filmmakers. Rather, she describes her shell
which consists of many images, sounds, cracks, processes
and conflicts.
Having said all of this, one needs to go back to the
experience of watching it on Doordarshan and contrast
that with another time I saw the movie with a few friends.
Many of us in the latter gathering were LGBT people and
believe in a broader queer politics as well. We related to the
film at a rather emotional level and it did reflect some parts
of some of our journeys. I then saw the movie again on
Doordarshan at a friend’s place. I couldn’t help but wonder
how the film would be perceived by someone who has not
embarked on these journeys the filmmaker describes or is
not aware of or willing to acknowledge them. The film has
no fixed agenda and so it is hard to state anything about it
within the trope of ‘impact’. It might however be perceived
as ‘abstract’ and ‘confusing’ and maybe even pointless.
One is not sure, if this is entirely fair as the film has enough
images and sounds to not know what effect it might have on
a viewer. The crisscrossing images, sounds, non-traditional
methods of filmmaking may leave some perplexed and
others touched. On the whole, Priya Sen’s About Elsewhere
is a relief from the usual ‘showing discrimination and
demanding rights’ documentary film genre while not
falling comfortably within the sometimes self-obsessed
and often non-contextual ‘my personal journey’ genre
within films about sexuality. It goes without saying that the
significance of these two genres in queer filmmaking, their
limitations notwithstanding, within the Indian context are
beyond measure.
I wouldn’t screen this film in isolation for a workshop
on the theme of sexuality in India, for instance, for an
open audience, but would couple it with a few more
straightforward films that set the basis of LGBT people
not being ‘diseased’ or ‘abnormal’ and that sexuality is an
important issue that has to be discussed. Once the stage is set,
About Elsewhere may ring a bell with many trying to traverse
through notions of gender, sexuality, space, structures and
so on; LGBT or not. About Elsewhere is a welcome addition
to the list of queer Indian films that explores the layered
context of queer lives in India including the city, space,
philosophy, body, popular culture, individual processes and
social structures.
- Another Gay Movie is an American gay chick flick made in
2007. The plot description on IMDB.com reads as follows:
In the dirtiest, funniest, most scandalous gay-teen-sex-
comedy-parody ever, four young gay friends make a pact to
lose their virginity by the end of the summer. The boys soon
face giant sex toys, naked celebrities, masochistic teachers
and an uncontrollable romance with a quiche. With a dozen
jokes a minute and a who’s who of gay celebrities (including
Graham Norton, Scott Thompson, Ant and Richard Hatch)
as you’ve NEVER seen them before, Another Gay Movie is a
candy-colored romp where getting laid is all that matters!
- Fire is a film with a lesbian theme made by Deepa Mehta
in 1996. It was the first overtly lesbian-themed movie to
hit the Indian movie scene. It saw a lot of opposition from
Hindu fundamentalists in India and also led to public
protests opposing the fundamentalists by LGBT individuals
and groups.
- Girlfriend, made in 2007, by Karan Razdan portrays the
relationship between a lesbian, her woman friend with
whom she has a physical relationship one drunken night, and
the latter’s boyfriend. It evolves into a thriller portraying an
emotionally disturbed and maniacal self-proclaimed lesbian
from whom the innocent heroine and the hero protect
themselves.
- Kal ho na ho, a popular Bollywood film made by Karan Johar
in 2003, has three big film stars. The two heroes of the film
pretend to be a gay couple in front of a scandalised housemaid
and this joke continues as a comedy track through most of
the film. Namita Malhotra’s Kaun Mile Dekho Kisko (http://media.opencultures.net/queer/ is an interesting parody of
Kal ho na ho where the two heroes actually do end up with
each other in the climax; Bollywood style!
- My Brother Nikhil made in 2005 by Onir Sen tells the story
of a talented swimmer dealing with HIV/AIDS and the role
of his sister and his male lover in supporting him.
- Doordarshan is India’s state run television channel. While
it does not have a viewership as widespread as cable TV, a
sizeable number of people still watch it. A screening on
Doordarshan is an important recognition both for the film
and the issues it hopes to address.
The term Queer offers a critique of heteronormativity
extending beyond sexual identity. It is a perspective that
engages with a larger world view that recognizes and
critiques complex systems of class, caste, gender, sexuality,
race, region, religion etc. For more, see Nivedita Menon,
‘How natural is normal? Feminism and compulsory
heterosexuality’ in Because I have a Voice: Queer Politics in India,
Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2005, pg. 33-40. In this review
Queer is being used as a term to refer to those individuals
who embark on journeys around sexuality among other
things and are willing to acknowledge the same, irrespective
of their sexual preferences/practices. Usage of ‘queer’ is apt
for this review as the film in question does not work within
fixed frameworks of sexuality but is about journeys.
Ponni Arasu is a queer feminist activist. She currently works
with alternative law forum, Bangalore, India |
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