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Are we in 2023 yet? because things are happening all across India, we are far behind in becoming a progressive nation.
The Bhopal Literature Festival recently canceled a session by the acclaimed filmmaker Onir Dhar titled “Making Literature LGBTQ Neutral” because of protests against LGBTQ+ issues and/or the inclusion of a gay artist.
bccl/representational image
Dhar, who helmed the film “My Brother…Nikhil,” condemned the decision to pull his session from the festival on Twitter.
He took to Twitter to write,
“Shocked and Sad that an event I was really looking forward to speaking at had to drop me. Apparently, there was a group threatening protest and violence, and the police told the organizers that they cannot guarantee my safety. So they canceled the event. Let me process this…”
A Literature Festival organizer told Free Press Journal that the event was canceled due to security concerns.
He stated that the state administration had informed him orally about the possibility of a protest surrounding the LGBT discussion.
In a previous interview with Outlook India, the well-known director, producer, and screenwriter Onir talked about queerness on and off screen, the issue of representation in mainstream Indian cinema.
He also spoke about his recently published memoir and the inspiration behind the stories he has been telling throughout his career.
Twitter
“I don’t think India’s mainstream cinema is ready yet. They are yet to figure out what these things are about. I mean, do you really need a script consultant to make a film about a gay character? It is ironic when people tell me, ‘Onir, how can we understand the LGBT community?’ I did not attend a workshop to discover my identity and myself. It is simple, be empathetic and kind, and you will understand everything,” he said while sharing why mainstream Indian cinema still hasn’t entirely accepted films that portray queerness in ‘its purest forms’
Onir’s first feature film, My Brother Nikhil, was released in 2005 and is regarded as a historic landmark in the LGBTQIA movement in India.
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