A rare Bollywood movie tackling homophobia got its Indian premiere, with the filmmakers hoping it will help change attitudes in the conservative country where homosexuality is illegal. "Aligarh" is based on a true story about a university professor who was suspended from his post after a television news crew filmed him having sex with a rickshaw puller in an undercover sting operation. "The film deals with a human story about a man isolated by his peers for a choice that should have been his own," the film's director, Hansal Mehta, explained. "I hope 'Aligarh' will poke people's conscience and make them look at their own prejudices," he added.
Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, then 64, was teaching at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh in February 2010 when his private life made headline news. Siras, who was also an award-winning poet, was suspended and briefly fought to be reinstated, but was found dead in his apartment in suspicious circumstances two months later. Traces of poison were discovered in his body and police initially suspected suicide, but they later made several arrests, although no one was convicted and the case was ultimately dropped. Media reports at the time alleged the university had ordered the sting to hound Siras out. AMU denied it was involved.
"Aligarh", which stars Manoj Bajpayee as Siras and Rajkummar Rao as a journalist who befriends him, opens the 17th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival after showings in London and South Korea's Busan. The Hindi-language movie is unusual in that it shines a spotlight on attitudes towards homosexuals in a socially-conservative India where Bollywood movies often ridicule gay characters and portray them as being extremely camp.
The hounding of Siras came during a brief period in Indian history when homosexuality was actually legal. The Delhi High Court had decriminalised the colonial-era ban on homosexuality in 2009, only for the Supreme Court to restore it in 2013, stunning rights campaigners and the gay and lesbian community. "The law was actually in favour of same sex. In spite of this, a 64-year-old scholar was harangued and shamed till his death," said Asrani.
Anyone found guilty of same-sex activity can face life imprisonment or up to ten years in jail and a fine under the controversial Section 377 of India's penal code. Although prosecutions have been rare, the gay community says it faces significant discrimination as well as harassment and blackmail from the police in India. Surveys show broad disapproval of homosexuality in India, forcing many gay men and women to live double lives. "Aligarh" must still pass India's censor board before its general release. Earlier this year the Central Board of Film Certification muted the word "lesbian" from a Hindi language film and blocked the release of "Fifty Shades of Grey".
