Clip from Kamasutra (Mira Nair)

Clip from Kamasutra

Director: Mira Nair

Duration: 00:01:45; Aspect Ratio: 1.222:1; Hue: 17.920; Saturation: 0.094; Lightness: 0.348; Volume: 0.207; Cuts per Minute: 5.675; Words per Minute: 56.745

Clip from Kamasutra - A tale of love (1996), directed by Mira Nair, starring Indira Varma, Sarita Choudhary, Naveen Andrews, Rekha.

Here the two women, Maya and Tara talk about making love to each other. Though ostensibly as a ruse to get the man back, there is also a gesture towards sensual and erotic pleasure between women. A similar scene is played out in Utsav (1984) which is directed by Girish Karnad.

This clip is part of the Queering Bollywood database, an exhibition and demonstration of a collection of queer readings of Indian cinema. This open and collaborative database of articles, film clips, magazine stories, etc., has been compiled by Namita Malhotra, Lawrence Liang and many others at Alternative Law Forum and in Bangalore. For more, see http://media.opencultures.net/queer/

A portion of this clip is used in the remix film Brokeback Bharat (Brokeback Bollywood) which is about queer desire in Indian cinema. There is a curious resonance between this scene and the scene in Utsav (also indexed in Queering Bollywood) where two women are also dressing each other for the love of a man, whom both have had relations with but one is in love with him. In Utsav (1984) Anuraddha Patel and Rekha have a similar scene.
Maya: We will not accept defeat from life.

Its not so difficult (to make love). I can teach you.. how to touch a man. How to leave marks. Men are not such a mystery.

I will dress you up with love. He will know that these are marks left by a woman. And that will make him desire you more.
dress
kamasutra
lesbian
love bites
lovers
women

Tara: Maya, he's going to kill Jai and there's nothing I can do to stop him.

Meet him for one last time. That is the one thing that I can do for you.
Tara, dressed up by Maya tells her the king will kill her lover.

Maya is distraught.

This is your chance, the doctor will help you.

Pad.ma requires JavaScript.