Kuch Na Kaho (clip)
Director: Rohan Sippy
Duration: 00:02:53; Aspect Ratio: 1.222:1; Hue: 351.580; Saturation: 0.071; Lightness: 0.192; Volume: 0.114; Cuts per Minute: 9.322; Words per Minute: 118.078
Summary: A clip from the film Kuch na Kaho (2003) starring Abhishek Bacchan, Aishwarya Rai and Satish Shah, directed by Rohan Sippy. Such scenes that use the homosexual or homosexuality as a comic reference are common in Bollywood films, though the nature of such a reference has changed from targeting an effeminate side character, to implicating the heroes of the film as in Kal Ho Na Ho, also released in the same year as this film. This scene though can be read as homophobic or definitely not friendly to homosexual behaviour.
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 clip from the film Kuch na Kaho (2003) starring Abhishek Bacchan, Aishwarya Rai and Satish Shah. Here Abhishek Bacchan is trying to prevent a marriage from taking place by implying that the groom is gay. The scene can alternately be read as homophobic but there is however a creation of a space for queer desires. The scene is reminescent of the one in Sholay where Amitabh Bacchan is deriding Dharmendra to Mausi to prevent his marriage, which often has been read as his unwillingness to let him go. It also foreshadows the appearance of the elite gay in Dostana, again starring Abhishek Bacchan.
abhishek bacchan
heteronormativity
homosexuality
marriage
queer
Girl's father (played by Satish Shah): Now my blood pressure is increasing. Tell me frankly, what is it Ajay is doing and with whom?
Raj (Abhishek Bacchan): In New York Ajay has an affair with someone
Raj's uncle (Satish Shah): What?
Raj: And he's leaving that person to marry Nikki
Uncle: What
Raj: But you have to forgive him
Uncle: Forgive him. Why??
Raj: You promised, Uncle. And Ajay is truly one in a million.
abhishek bacchan
heteronormativity
homosexuality
marriage
queer
Uncle: But how do you know for sure?
Raj: I do. Because he told me.
Uncle: Who? Ajay?
Raj: No, the person whose heart Ajay has broken.
Uncle: So why doesn't Ajay marry him???
Raj (AB): He wanted to. But he couldn't tell his parents what his heart desired. And for their happiness he abandoned what he truly desired.
Uncle (SS): You mean, he still loves that other person.
Raj: Isn't he one in a million?
Uncle: Okay, fine. You might as well tell me who this mistress of my daughter is.
Raj (AB): Michael
Uncle (SS): Michael? These Americans are strange. In India, that is a boy's name.
Raj: Here too it is a boy's name
Uncle: What???
Uncle: Michael is a boy
Raj: Yes
Uncle: What?
Raj: That too, the kind with a very big moustache
Uncle: That's it. I'm not letting this marriage happen.
Raj: But Ajay is one in a million
Uncle: Such boys are only found one in a million
In this scene there is a reference to the common myth (perpetuated probably first as a result of the Kinsey Report) that one in ten people is a homosexual. A short film titled One in Ten by Aarti Parthasathy, about a group of queer people in Bangalore, is also about this dubious truism.
Kinsey report
homosexuality
myth
statistic
Ajay: What is wrong with this dress
Little girl: So cute, Jijaji (brother-in-law)
Bride: Keep quiet (to little girl). Please Ajay, I don't want to look at it.
Girl: What a beautiful dress, Jijai
Ajay: What will you do if Namrata doesn't bring the dress?
Girl: You have to wear something. Tell her!
Little Girl: Jijaji, you're looking beautiful
Ajay: Thank you..
Uncle: So lovely, what beautiful mannerisms and affectations. And you're wearing the right dress too.
Girl: See, even Papa likes it. Tell her that now.
(all the girls run towards Raj as he enters)
homosexual
(Little girl takes Raj to meet the brother in law)
Little girl: Raj Bhaiya, this is our Jijaji-to-be
Uncle: He's not our Jijaji. He's Jiji (reference to girl's name)
Ajay: What?
Uncle: Yes. And I'm not going to let this marriage take place.
marriage
pun
queer
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