Indian Gay DVDs

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Yours Emotionally! going places...


Its a busy month for 'Yours Emotionally!' as it screens in many cities in many countries. Check out the schedule below. Anyone in those cities may want to take a look.

Yours Emotionally!

Festival: Prague Bollywood Festival
Date/s: October 15; 8.00pm
Venue: CINEMA SVÌTOZOR Theater
City /Country: Prague, Poland
Contact: http://www.bollywood.cz/Bollywood2006/english/filmy.html#yoursemotionally
alongwith HUM TUM, Kal Ho Na Ho, Taal on the same day!!!

Festival: "A MILLION DIFFERENT LOVES!?"
Date/s: October 22; 10.30 am
Venue: Kino Charlie
City / Country: Lodz, Poland
Contact: www.charlie.pl

Festival : Sixth Annual IAAC Film Festival
Date/s: November 4; 6.00 pm
Venue: Maya Deren Theatre
City/ Country: New York, USA
Contact: http://www.iaac.us/sixth_film_festival2006/festival_catalog.htm#F10
alongside NAMESAKE, UMRAO JAAN and BACKWATERS

Date/s: November 5, 4.45pm
Venue : Rialto Filmtheater
City / Country: Amsterdam
Contact: www.rialtofilm.nl / 020-6768700 /e-mail: rialto@rialtofilm.nl
>> It is a double whammy as both 'Gulabi Aaina' and 'Yours Emotionally!' will together tour 6 cities in Poland - Lodz (Oct 19-22), Gdansk (Nov 2-4), Torun (Nov 9-12), Krakow (Nov 17-21), Poznan (Nov 26-30) and Warsaw (Dec 1-4).
'Gulabi Aaina' will also screen at Leipzig, Germany on October 28, 4pm @ UT CONNEWITZ Theater.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Review of YE in Fire Island Q News






Bruce-Michael Gelbert review of Yours Emotionally! in Fire Island Q News:


"Two seasons ago, Indian filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan’s “The Pink Mirror” was the sensation of the festival. A new work of his, “Yours Emotionally,” shot in England and India, was shown this year and a hauntingly beautiful film it is, demonstrating what East and West, young and old, and straight and gay can learn from each other. Ravi and Paul leave Leiscester, England to investigate Ravi’s ancient ancestral homeland, India, where families still expect their gay sons to marry women and the caste system retains much of its rigidity. They find themselves at an exotic, erotic gay gathering, right out of the Kama Sutra... Emotions unexpectedly run high when Ravi falls for Mani---and then meets Mani’s wife-to-be. The encounters between the men here are steamy and the older gay male couple, Murthy and Anna, is strikingly portrayed."


Yours Emotionally! screened at the Fire Island Film & Video Festival (September 13 -16, 2006) on September 14, 2006 @ 11pm.

The film marked the return of the director to Fire Island where his earlier film 'The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina)' screened as the Closing Night film and won the Jury Award for Best Feature.

Link to festival website: www.liglff.org/fireislandfestival.htm
'The Pink Mirror' link: www.solarispictures.com/fireisland.htm

Screening at Humsafar Trust

Yours Emotionally! had its first Indian outing recently, screening to a packed hall at The Humsafar Trust, a male sexual health agency in Mumbai. More than 100 gay and transgender persons watched the film and participated enthusiastically in the ensuing Q&A session with the director Sridhar Rangayan and lead actors Premjit and Ikhlaq Khan. The screening was special because many members of the audience had participated in the film (in the party and Kamasutra scenes) and for them it was a delight to see a film which they had worked in.

While Rangayan applauded the courage of these queer people who so fearlessly came out to be part of the film for the very first time in Indian cinema history. "It is indeed very brave of you all and I am completely indebted to your participation without which this film wouldn't have been what it is", said Rangayan.

One of the audience member asked, "Why doesn't anyone in the film manage to live happily with the person they love" to which another person retorted, "Have you been able to?" amidst giggles and laughter. Rangayan explained that he tried to mirror reality and usually in most of the real circumstances there are different situations and events that become roadblocks to love; especialy for gay men who have to battle the society to live out their identity and consummate their love.

"How was it doing all those hot scenes?" the audience asked the panel. Premjit mentioned that, "it was all very technical actually with all those lights and crew members!" to which someone quipped, "it hardly looked technical!". Iklhaq Khan, who is a well-known actor in mainstream television and films and for whom accepting to play the role of an elderly gay was a big challenge, said "The director made us comfortable with the situations and sensitized us to the emotional content of the scenes, esp the bedroom scenes and particularly the kiss with Anna which is the high point of the film. None of us found anything crass or vulgar and everything is depicted so sensitively and beautifully".

"Was there any problems during the shooting, considering it is such a bold film?". Rangayan mentioned that they had sought permission to shoot in the streets and the prince of the palace where most of the film was shot was very supportive. Incidentally the prince is none other than Manavendra Singh Gohil who is one of the first person from the Indian royalty to come out openly as a gay person.

"It was amazing that so many gay men and TGs particiapted that too in public places like the riverside and temples. Did no one object or make fun of?". Rangayan said, " What was amazing about the queer people from Lakshya (Baroda) who particiapted in those scenes was that they themselves were utterly comfortable about their sexuality. So, that confidence showed, giving no room for anyone to poke fun at them... and even if they did they cared two hoots about it. It was amazingly empowering"

Many people wanted to know when the film will be released so that it can be seen by a wider audience, "It is a trendsetter... Such films need to be seen. For the first time an Indian film has portrayed the gay community with so much honesty and motionality". Rangayan mentioned that the film will be distributed by Waterbearer Films for the home DVD market but also hoped that more distributors come forward to release it in theaters, maybe even in India.

The evening conclued amidst much mingling and discussions over samosas, dhoklas and tea. Later there was even a performance by the well known dancer Simran (who also played a small role in the film).

Saturday, August 05, 2006

New York Times Reader's Review





Reader's Review of 'Yours Emotionally!' on the New York Times Movies page.

Naked & Truthful

July 12, 2006

Many aspects & issues we take for granted here, still seem to pose a challenge to gay men in India. This reality is driven home honestly & emotionally in Rangayan's 'Yours Emotionally' has a universal appeal. The film purports to "explore cultural differences & similarities" between a British Asian from Leicester and a youth from rural India. And it does so vividly, passionately & quite emphatically. But the film doesn't stop there. Its highlight is the 'trans-generational' plot line where we get to see gay men in their 20s as well as a gay couple in their 50s. Stories & images such as these are hard to find, even in the mushroom of american gay films that focus more on hot bodies & the eternal fountain of youth. Through some exquisite color tones & angles, a mood is set that exploits the mental states of all the characters aptly. A dramatic scene between the two boys and the only woman we see on screen (fiance of the village youth) uses extremely vivid compositions and dramatic jump cuts to show changing dynamics of the triangle. Brilliant and truly of international cinematic quality. A daring effort that may be diffiucult for some dogmatic people, was very well received by the New York audiences with lots of laughter and a huge ovation at the end. Wonder how the director would be able to screen such a nakedly trutful film in his homophobic country and more importantly how it will be received. A groundbreaking film.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=353906

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Hitting the Right Chords

Hitting the Right Chords

GLBTQ discussion board
Posted: 30 Jul 2006, 12:39 am

'A beautiful feverish dream' (Corey Eubanks); 'Reminiscent of early Merchant Ivory films'(Kelly Vance), 'combines avant-garde cinema with Bollywood tropes', 'cross cultural with a modern English tilt'

'Yours Emotionally!', a new gay feature from India / UK that delves into the minds and hearts of South Asian sexual minorities in UK and small town India, is receiving accolades from both South Asian & Caucasian audiences. A honest and moving portrayal of cultural stereotypes and identities, the film is being hailed as a milestone in south Asian queer cinema. "The film is cross-cultural as well as trans-generational", says the film's director Sridhar Rangayan, "for the first time the film portrays an elderly Indian gay couple and their mature relationship as well as a passionate love story between youngsters".

The film opened to sold out shows in New York & San Francisco garnering some very positive reviews : 'A beautiful feverish dream' (Corey Eubanks); 'Reminiscent of early Merchant Ivory films'(Kelly Vance), 'combines avant-garde cinema with Bollywood tropes', 'cross cultural with a modern English tilt'. While the film may face a challenge getting screened in India, it is expected to hit the film festival circuit all around the world soon. 'This film is very special because, for the first time ever more than 100 trans and gay men from India have boldly come out to be part of a film. It is a significant process of empowerment for the Indian gay community', adds Niranjan Kamatkar, the film's producer.

Rangayan, whose earlier film 'The Pink Mirror' was a big success on the festival scene winning several awards, is now planning his next feature 'Songs of Eternal Love' which is to be set in Vancouver and India. He is seeking co-producers in North America who could partner with him to make this film which he says is, 'a beautiful lyrical tale that intersects poetry, religion and passion.It is sexy and spiritual!'

http://www.glbtq.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?p=2146

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Review in India New England magazine, Boston

Homosexuality in India, UK explored in film
Rangayan deals with gay complexities in India, UK
By Umang Kumar

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — “Yours Emotionally,” a gay-themed movie set in small town India had its Boston premiere at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Jun 30. Parmesh Shahani, a research scholar in the comparative media studies department at MIT, organized the screening attended by about 50 people.

The story revolves around Ravi, played by Premjit and Paul, played by Jack Lamport, two friends from Leicester in the United Kingdom, who travel to India to attend some gay to-dos in some small towns: first in Gujarat and then in Shimoga, Karnataka.

During a party they attend, Ravi meets a local man called Mani, played by Prateek Gandhi, to whom he takes a liking. Ravi and Paul also come across an older gay couple who act as their hosts in Shimoga and give them glimpses into their lives and the social issues they faced in the expression of their love for each other.

Sridhar Rangayan, the director and co-scriptwriter of the movie who lives in Mumbai, was at hand for the question and answer session that followed the screening. “There are very few queer Indian movies other than the well known ones like ‘Fire’ and ‘Sancharan,’ the latter a recent Malayalam movie,” he said. Through this movie, he said, he wanted to highlight some of the gay issues that exist in India and in the United Kingdom.

Rangayan also said that he wanted to show the reality of gay living in small-town India where such activities tend to be very secretive and far less understood than in the metropolitan areas.
He said that this movie had been shot over just eight days and it had taken about six months to complete production. He was grateful to several members of some of the gay community in India who agreed to be on screen for various scenes of the movie. He also explained how the movie was made on a very tight budget. The character of Paul for instance, played by Jack Lamport, had his flight to India for shooting purposes financed by his mother.

The movie has had a very limited exposure in India but has seen good response in the United States where it was screened in New York and San Francisco before the Boston premiere.
As part of the question and answer session, some people wondered if Rangayan had considered releasing his movies via the Internet, to which he responded by saying that video-on-demand is certainly a promising option for smaller filmmakers.

Answering another question, he felt that the younger generation is more accepting of gay issues. Rangayan also said that the movie tries to show a cultural contrast between its chief characters, one a British-Asian, the other British, both of them from small-town Britain, to their experiences in small-town India. “I wanted to show their sense of marginalization and also some of the underlying similarities in their conditions,” he said.

One of the more notable characters in the movie was that of a wife of a gay man. She is shown helping Anna deal with his family life and his love for another man.

Rangayan, an engineer by training, has several documentary films on various social issues to his credit. He has also been associated with some feature films, like “Papeeha” directed by Sai Paranjape and “English, August” directed by Dev Benegal. He is a social activist and has been involved in gay and other gender issues for several years. His previous film on issues of sexual orientation, “The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aina),” dealt with cross-dressing drag queens. But it was banned by the censor board in India, who felt it had too much of vulgarity. “They even said that I had not treated the theme with ‘understanding,’”he says.

In his future endeavors as part of seven movies dealing with gay issues that he calls the “Rainbow Series,” Rangayan wants to use the homoeroticism in Sufi poetry in his storyline. “That will introduce an element of lyricism in the theme,” he feels.

The audience seemed to appreciate the directness and the sensitivity with which gay issues were dealt with. “I felt it was a little over-sexualized, but it was a warm and touching depiction, nevertheless,” said Sarav Chithambaram of Cambridge, who is associated with the Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association.

Published in India New England magazine, Boston; Issue Date: July 15 to 31, 2006
Read the article Online here

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Screening at MIT

A special screening of the film 'Yours Emotionally!' was organized by Parmesh Shahani at MIT, Boston on June 30

The invite read:
A reminder that there will be a very special screening, and the Boston premiere of the gay Indian film "Yours Emotionally" at MIT, tomorrow, that is Friday, June 30, 2006, between 7:00pm-9:30pm, in room 1-190 (http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=1&Buildings=go ) The film is a surreal journey that deals with the realities of trans-cultural love across India and the UK. (See www.yoursemotionally.com for more)

Sridhar Rangayan, the film's director (Gulabi Aaina/The Pink Mirror, 2003) will be visiting Boston especially for this event, and he will be present for a short Q&A session following the screening. He has been traveling with the film through the US this summer, and it has received a thundering reception over the past 4 weeks at NewFest in New York and Frameline in San Francisco.

I do hope that you will be able to make it for the special Boston event - attendance is free. Feel free to pass on this email to those you think may be interested in attending the screening and/or post it on any lists that you think appropriate.

Sridhar writes: Thanks so much Parmesh. It was such a well organized event and the turn out was really amazing. Especially considering it was a non-academic season at this campus city and it also was the July4th long holiday weekend, to have an auditorium full with more than 125 people was truly gratifying. The Q&A almost went on forever (more than an hour) and we had to take the conversation to dinner at a fantastic bengali resturant. Thanks to the Boston Masala group for spreading the word and of course a special thanks to Junri for putting up those YE posters all over MIT!

During the Q&A, there was quite a bit of debate about the women characters in the film. I tried to portray them as having great emotional strength to sustain marriages with closeted gay men, but many women in the audience seem to think that that is the bane of women - that they are always put on the pedestal and expected to play the Mother India stereotypes. That was thoughtprovoking. Thanks.

Review in East Bay Express

Review in 'East Bay Express '
The Frameline film festival hits the big thirty.
By Kelly Vance
Article Published Jun 14, 2006

Absolutely nothing is taken for granted in writer-director Sridhar Rangayan's Yours Emotionally, a gay male travelogue that claims to explore clashing cultural values between India and the UK but comes across as the trippiest flick in the fest, full of fantasy sequences, color effects, and wonderful music, in the service of its story of two young guys from Leicester on Indian holiday. Ravi brings his white friend Paul to a homocentric resort in a small town, where they meet an older gay Indian couple and find themselves, amid much local color and some truly amazing tropical digressions. It has the deep-Indian feel of an early Merchant Ivory film, only gay. From this movie, you'd think India is loaded with gays — tour operators are no doubt standing by. The final mind-blower is an onscreen display of the Ravi character's phone and e-address, no doubt saving him the trouble of getting a MySpace page.

Link to article : http://www.eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2006-06-14/film/movies_full.html

Frameline press June 25

Harjant Gill, Sridhar Rangayan and Jack Lamport outside Roxie theater where YE screened.

From Frameline's press release June 25 -

Yours Emotionally played to a completely sold out house. In attendance was the charming director from India, Sridhar Rangayan, and one of his actors, Jack Lamport. The Q&A session that followed the screening sparked a very interesting dialogue about the visibility of LGBTQQI persons in Southeast Asia.

Sridhar writes: Indeed the Q&A was interesting. Apart from issues, some of the people in the audinece had very positive reaction about styling of the film - the color tones, effects and surreal scenes. They felt the style complemented the content. In the picture here, to my right is Harjant Gill, a bright south asian filmmaker from DC, whose forthcoming film 'Milind Soman made me gay' is very promising.

Sold out in San Francisco !


Again a sold-out show! YE screened on June 24 at Frameline 30 - San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival - which is one of the oldest and largest queer film festival in the world. 'Yours Emotionally!' was the one of the earliest film to sell out among 300 films from all over the world! Here too an additional screening was scheduled on June 21 to accomodate rush of tickets.

Frameline festival program review -

From the director of The Pink Mirror (Frameline27) comes this intoxicating queer journey through India. Ravi is a young Indian man living in England who impulsively heads to an all-night gay party in an Indian village, dragging his British friend Paul along.Fueled by erotic performances, flirting and sex, Ravi connects at the party with Mani, a closeted working-class guy. Rooming at the very gay-friendly hotel belonging to Murthy and Anna, an older gay couple who have been together for more than thirty years, Ravi decides to stay for a few days to pursue what may be the love of his life, but the consequences of their hedonistic night catch up with them. With bursts of surreal images and scenes, Ravi tries to reconnect with Mani, but the situation becomes rocky when his slutty friend Paul flaunts his own careless hook-up with Mani.Thankfully, Ravi has the wisdom of Murthy and Anna to guide him. They share their stories of defying tradition, loving against all odds and being true to oneself. Invigorated by his time with the couple, Ravi meets Mani once again to see if their fates may indeed be intertwined.In addition to the colorful and bizarre situations, the camera lingers lovingly over the queer Indian male body and exalts its sexuality. With a consistently surreal look, Yours Emotionally feels like a beautiful fever dream inspired by both avant-garde gay cinema and the tropes of Bollywood. — COREY EUBANKS

The film was co-presented by Third I South Asian Films

Frameline website link: http://www.frameline.org/festival/30th/programs/yours_emotionally.html

Conquering the Queens

QMA and 3rdI NY screened 'Yours Emotionally!' as part of its 'Pride month screening celebrations' on June 12 at the Queens Museum of Arts. Our film was preceded by 'Lavender Ink' (USA, 2006, 15 min) a Multimedia Presentation directed by Hector Canonge.

YOURS EMOTIONALLY! Dir. Sridhar Rangayan (UK, India, 2006, 83 min)
While visiting India with his friend Paul, Ravi, a British Punjabi, gets a taste of gay life when they attend a sex party. Though Ravi finds a mixture of dying traditions and shocking openness, he cannot reconcile them with the gay scene back home in Leicester, England. With flashes of semi-surreal situations -presented through exciting dream sequences- the film unfolds on a brightly painted canvas that defies stereotypes and explores contrasting values within Indian and Western gay sub-cultures.Presentation in partnership with 3rdiNY


After the screenings join us for a Q&A panel with directors and artists followed by Queerin' Queens 2006 Performances at the Unisphere Gallery of the Queens Museum of Art

Sridhar writes: "It was a fantastic opportunity for us to screen the film at a platform that was so unique - with an eclectic mix of queer and non-queer and Asian and Cacausian audience. The auditorium was packed and there was huge appreciative laughter right through the film. I was quite dazed because though I always meant the film to be funny, I was not sure it was 'so' funny. Myself and Jack Lamport who was present handled the Q&A where many people wanted to know wht it means to be gay in a homophobic country like India. Many of the older Asian gay men in the audience felt the film depicted a true slice of life in small town India. I was particularly impressed by the collection of shorts 'Lavender Ink' which gave voice to elderly gay men and women, I esp liked the short - 'Three Photographs' which was so poignant and depicted the angst of the south asian identity crisis out there."

World Premiere of YE

World Premiere of 'Yours Emotionally!' at New Fest - New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on June 9 was a sold-out show!
An additional screening was scheduled on June 5 to accomodate demands for tickets.

Director Sridhar Rangayan and actor Jack Lamport were present at the screening that received lots of laughter, appluase and appreciation. The Q&A was extremely positive and highlighted issues about queer communities both in UK and India.

Sridhar writes: "It was so exciting to be out there, watching my film on the big screen for the first time, amidst laughter and claps. It was instant gratification for all the effort all of us put in making the film. It was all worth it! What was amazing was the connection with the audience who laughed and gasped with the film!"

From NewFest program guide:

In this compelling comic drama, two gay friends, Ravi, a British Indian, and his best mate, Paul, go on holiday to India, where they attend an eye-opening gay sex party. Despite the circumstances, Ravi, a romantic, immediately falls for the handsome working-class Mani, but Ravi’s dreams of bringing Mani home to England are completely unrealistic – Mani is under constant pressure to marry a woman. Their story parallels that of Murthy and Anna, an older gay couple whom Ravi and Paul meet. Will the older men be able to help Ravi keep his newfound love? Will Ravi’s friendship with Paul survive Ravi’s obsession and Paul’s disloyalty?

Link for festival website : http://filmguide.newfest.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/title-schedule.php?Range=TZ&ShowShorts=N&ShowPast=Y

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Yours Emotionally!

A film that challenges stereotypes & cultural differences

Yours Emotionally!
83 mins English
UK / India


Produced by:
Niranjan Kamatkar
Wise Thoughts, London
C0-Produced by:
Solaris Pictures, Mumbai

Directed by:
Sridhar Rangayan

Executive Producer:
Saagar Gupta
Creative Consultant:
Subodh Rathod

Cast:
Premjit, Jack Lamport, Pratik Gandhi, Iravati Karnik
Ikhlaq Khan, Ajay Rohilla, Abhay, Ashwin, Mansoor
Camera:
Deepak Pandey
Editor:
Nishant Radhakrishnan
Music:
Ameya Naik
William Longden