Bisexuality in Bollywood: A Subject Least Touched Upon

Equal rights activist, Harish Iyer pens his thoughts on the occasion to Celebrate Bisexuality Day.

Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi in Dedh Ishqiya.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

IMHO, Bisexuality is one of the most misunderstood sexualities in the LGBT community. People think of bisexuals as people who are perpetually “in a phase” who will come out on a later stage as either straight or gay. “They will finally make up their mind”, “they are just horny people who want to have the cake and eat it too”, “they are unfaithful people who wish to double date” - all these are judgements that bisexuals are subjected to. Even in gay dating apps like Grindr, there are profiles that explicitly mention “bisexuals and cheats don’t contact”. Bisexuality is as natural as homosexuality or heterosexuality or any sexuality.

Bisexuals are people who are not “greedy” or way too “needy” they are just people who are capable of romantic relationships with people regardless of the persons gender.

Also Read: A Day For Bisexual Visibility: Bisexuality Is Not A “Choice”

It’s a sexual orientation looked askance upon by heterosexuals and homosexuals.

There have been films about bisexuals  in the west and even in India, but they have often been pink-washed by the gay and lesbian community. Like for instance, I am not sure how many people in the Gay community will take it kindly if I express my opinion that Brokeback mountain was in fact about a bisexual person who was married to a woman and discovers a male partner later in his life?

I know many people were offended when I asked if Deepa Mehta’s Fire was actually about two bisexual housewives? Especially Nandita Das’s character is left high and dry by her husband played by Javed Jaffery. It doesnt shows her unloved by her male partner that drives her to explore the feelings that she never dared to explore - her love for women, she then makes out with her sister-in-law – played by Shabana Azmi. Though Shabana’s character is a late bloomer, Nandita’s character could well be that of a bisexual women.

Reema Kagti was among the first people who dared to show bisexuality in her film – Honeymoon Travels Pvt Limited. The film had Sandhya Mridul dealing with the sexuality of her husband  (Played by Vikram Chatwal) who comes out to her as gay.

However, Amisha Patel’s character is married to Karan Khanna, who discovers that he likes men too when he meets Vikram Chatwal. Karan’s character could be interpreted as bisexual.

I first respected Deepika Padukone as an actor only when I saw Cocktail. This film, a love triangle, had all 3 sides intersecting with each other. Deepika is shown as much in love with Diana Penty as much as she adores Saif Ali Khan.

It was just too obvious for an evolved mind to read between the lines.

However, the film never spells out the word “bisexual” - it is what we understand when we read the untold story ebbed in the nuances of the screenplay.

Madhuri and Huma Qureshi’s character in Dedh Ishqiya is shown as perfect heterosexual characters until the two cunning conniving women slowly and steadily are shown as getting cozy with each other.

The true depiction of bisexuality ever has been in the film Margarita With A Straw. We had to trust my friend Kalki Koechlin with a role that only she could  play to perfection. In the author backed role, she comes out to her mom as a bi. Never ever has anyone ever come out so explicitly as bisexual in Indian celluloid. Shonali Bose the director-writer of the film is an out and proud bisexual. I should add that Shonali is the ONLY out and proud bisexual I know in this film industry. Not everyone is able to depict what they are in real life on celluloid. Shonali does that with utmost ease.

Margarita With A Straw touches on several complex subjects but without making it feel like a science or sociology lesson. It is the best that bisexuality has ever been depicted in Indian or even world cinema.

A still from Margarita with a Straw. (Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Kalki and Shonali have set the bar for bisexuals on screen real high, only time will tell of Jim Sarbh, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are able to even reach that point in bisexual depiction on screen.

Trust Sanjay Leela Bhansali for giving us a riot of colours and a movie where the heroine opens 200+ doors of lavish sets, so huge that they never seem to end. Will Padmavati open doors of closets for bisexuals too?

Well, today is bisexuality awareness day. So in optimistic spirit, we remain. :)

(Harish Iyer is an equal rights activist working for the rights of the LGBT community, women, children and animals. ‘Rainbow Man’ is Harish’s regular blog for The Quint)