Indian film banned for ‘glorifying homosexuality’ to finally be shown after gay sex ruling
The film’s central pairing stare into each other’s eyes (Ka Bodyscapes)
A film about a gay love story which was blocked by Indian censors for its positive portrayal of homosexuality will finally be screened.
Ka Bodyscapes, which tracks the relationship between a painter, Haris, and sportsman Vishnu in a conservative Indian city, was finished in 2016 but banned by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for “glorifying homosexuality.”
It has so far only been shown to film festival audiences in Italy, the US and UK, but after India’s Supreme Court decriminalised gay sex last month, the CBFC’s decision has been reversed and Ka Bodyscapes will premiere in the southern state of Kerala tomorrow (October 5).
The film was banned for “glorifying homosexuality” (Ka Bodyscapes)
Jayan Cherian, who wrote and directed the film, said it “deals with the struggles of Kerala’s youth to find a space for themselves and for individual freedom,” according to The Hindu.
He welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling, which overturned the 157-year-old Section 377, a colonial law that banned sexual activity it defined as “against the order of nature.”
The controversial legislation was widely used to clamp down on the LGBT+ community in India, which is home to 1.3 billion people.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is already having a huge effect on Indian society (Ka Bodyscapes)
“It’s heartening and significant that it’s reaching cinemas when the apex court has struck down the portion of the law that criminalised homosexual relations,” Cherian said.
When the film was refused certification in 2016, its creators fought for two-and-a-half years to get the film released.
“We do not want to sit in silence,” Cherian told the newspaper. “An artist’s only weapon of resistance is [their] art practice.
“We need to tell the world that we are alive and refuse to be cowed down.”
“We are alive and refuse to be cowed down” (Ka Bodyscapes)
The CBFC also pulled the plug on smash hit Love, Simon on its day of release, reportedly because of the film’s positive depiction of gay relationships.
The lifting of the ban on Ka Bodyscapes follows a similar decision in Kenya, where lesbian film Rafiki shattered box office records after a government ban was lifted for one week only.
The lesbian love story from director Wanuri Kahiu debuted to international acclaim at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but the film was banned in its home country after state censors took exception to the “homosexual” themes.
Rafiki (Big World Cinema)
It was permitted to screen in the country for exactly one week in September, after a court ordered it should be permitted to meet the requirements for Oscars eligibility. The film is now again banned in the country, following the end of the seven-day exemption.
