Ranveer Singh Doesn’t Play A Bi-Sexual In Padmavati!
Sorry Fans, But Saurav Shukla Plays A gay Paedophile In A New Film
News reports claiming that Ranveer Singh plays a bi-sexual on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati may be salacious and provocative. They are also untrue.
According to a source close to Sanjay Bhansli the fact that the historical character Allauddin Khilji was said to sexually interested in boys is not a part of the Padmavati narrative at all.
“Sanjay’s film doesn’t go into that area of Khilji’s activities at all. And reports that Jim Serbh plays Ranveer’s lover are false misleading and troublesome,” says a source close to the project.
However audiences who seek gratification in exploring the darker side of sexual mores would be happy to know that in a forthcoming film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai Saurav Shukla plays a man who swings both ways.
During a road journey to Goa he casually suggests to his co-star Manav Kaul that they have sex together even if Kaul is straight. Later at a dhaba where they stop for a meal Suarav has sex with a young boy and has no qualms about being called a paedophile.
Most men in the Indian entertainment industry are too scared to play gay because of their image.In the recent Dishoom Akshay Kumar played a gay drug dealer with a sexy man-bun.But years ago when Rituparno Ghoshhad offered Akshay a gay part the actor had looked at the director with much pity and some contempt.
Randeep Hood dared to do a gay kiss in Karan Johar’s Bombay Talkies. But that’s the only mainstream Indian film where we see men kissing. Madhur Bhandarkar shot a gay kiss between actor Anoop Soni and his screen lover in Fashion. But finally chickened out.
“Yes I cut it out voluntarily before the censors did,” admits Bhandarkar.
Apurva Asrani who wrote one of Hindi cinema’s rare film on homosexuality Aligarh with perhaps the only notable performance in Hindi film by an actor Manoj Bajpai as a homosexual,feels the Indian entertainment industry is not likely to acknowledge its homosexuality. “Our film industry like most movie industries in the world employs a sizable number of gay and bisexual men and women. Some of these filmmakers, actors and technicians are known for their attention to detail, while others create dynamic female characters. Many do song and dance with great aplomb.”
While all of this is wonderful, it has a flip side.
Says Apurva, “Owing to outdated ideas of morality, and also criminalizing of same sex unions, most of our filmy gay folk are closeted. Some get married early and avoid questions, others stay single but create smokescreens from time to time, always worrying that they will get ‘exposed’. This gives rise to a kind of homophobia, where as they will not associate openly with an ‘out’ gay person for fear of being discovered by association. This also ensures that they create gay characters in films that either ridicule themselves or are there only for villainous purposes. This continues the vicious cycle of homophobia in society.”
