Mainstreaming the Gay? : The old-new romantic comedy of "Dostana"

Has the angelic Karan Johar really shown guts to overcome fear to tread forbidden zones? This was one thought that continued to plague me until I really got to watch his Dostana. I was apprehensive that it might turn out to be another sexist take on gayness that Bollywood very often than not notoriously indulge in. Well, there was a My Brother Nikhil which is still date a nonpareil example of a gay-themed film ever made in India. But, then again, it was targeted at a niche audience, and was not definitely mainstream. Almost every masala flick has till date treated the idea of being gay as immoral, and most importantly un-Indian. In fact, heterosexuality as ‘normal’ has been very often used as a tool to combat homosexuality as belonging to the Other, a degenerate western culture. Even Kal Ho Na Ho with Kanta Ben as the prototype homophobic had left gayness at the periphery. However, there was at least a recognition of the existence of a sexual identity other than the heterosexual, and that the latter is not a norm. Dostana, thankfully, does not carry forward the Kal Ho Na Ho joke. I would not say that the film is a quantum leap from what Kal Ho Na Ho was, but it has certainly taken the gay issue a few miles ahead in its treatment. Dostana is not as smart as The Bird Cage or Brokeback Mountain, but it may be treated as prelude to more progressive films that may be in the pipeline. The anxiety regarding gayness is very much palpable, but the resistance to it seemed to have been allayed to a remarkable extent.
Kirron Kher is aghast on discovering his son’s alleged gayness and comes running all the way to Miami to witness the most hilarious of scenes with Abhishek Bachchan and the ‘visibly’ gay Boman Irani in a sexy “Beedi jalayee le” act at Priyanka Chopra’s apartment. The “Ma ka ladla bigar gaya” (“Bigaad jana” can be roughly translated into English as “becoming corrupt”: from Kirron’s perspective being gay is some kind of moral degeneration that needs to be purged; similar to a popular feeling that being gay is a disease that can be cured) number that follows shows Kirron shocked and shattered on experiencing by-chance apparently sexually intimate moments between Abhishek and John Abraham. Her heart-rending lamentation fills the screen and she even goes to the extent of trying jaadu-tona to exorcise the gay-ghost that has taken possession of her son. Kirron’s anxiety draws quite a few laughs, but the film does not seem clear on its standpoint…what are we laughing at? First, we, as audience, have superior knowledge that John and Abhishek are only pretending to be gay. Now, it is a rule of comedy that by attributing superior knowledge to its audience, it creates situations that appear funny. Again, the same situations that make us laugh also make us think what exactly we are laughing at. What do we exactly do in Dostana? Are we laughing at Kirron’s anxiety? Or are we laughing at the John-Abhishek gay act which, because, we know it is put up, keeps us perpetually in a relieved state of mind? Does this relieved state of mind (the feeling that well, they are just pretending and are not really gay, which could be a real cause of anxiety) help us laugh through? Do we accept Boman Irani as normal? Or do we laugh at his overt effeminacy and his readily falling prey to Abhishek’s charms? And the immigration officer? He too is gay, and says that he would henceforth keep an eye on John. Shall we say that all gay people are that promiscuous? That they fall for anyone and everyone who cross their way? Or is it a commentary on the nature of the gay community that because there are no social laws binding them, they can be liberally licentious? What is it, after all? At the expense of being naïve, shall we say that because homosexual urges are fiercely suppressed, and still treated as ‘abnormal’, sexual licentiousness amongst gay people is quite ‘normal’? But what is the film’s take on that? It has left both Boman and the immigration officer as butts of ridicule! Or would Karan and Tarun Mansukhani would defend themselves by saying that Boman and the immigration officer are just a type; all gays are not like that! But, in any form of narrative (whether textual or cinematic), drawing two characters in the same line points towards universalization. Dostana has been able to raise a number of issues of this kind, and has left them open.
Yet, Dostana steers safely past severe criticism, for in the very next sequence it goes to the extent of flexing the formula of the age-old Bollywood romantic comedy to accommodate gay love. Priyanka Chopra, the least homophobic of the cast, plays the moderator. In a famously well-known romantic comedy sequence, Priyanka convinces Kirron into accepting her son’s sexual orientation for the sake of his happiness. This scene recalls numerous other films where strong patriarchal resistance to a romantic union is softened through such emotional dialogues. Nowhere does Priyanka sound artificial and for a while the film seems to suspend its light mood and turn serious. Kirron relents, but this time the audience surely does not laugh. For, Priyanka’s rationalization of the supposed relationship between Abhishek and John has no comic undertones. But what follows is hilarious. Kirron accepts John (she does not know as son-in-law or a daughter-in-law), but she accepts her in the most melodramatic filmy way one can imagine of. She performs all the rites of welcoming a new bride to the family with a straight face, much to the exasperation of Abhishek who had never anticipated such a twist in the tale. John is totally cool and Priyanka revels in the triumph of having been able to convert Kirron. Both Priyanka and her aunt Sushmita Mukherjee accept the union as the most natural thing that could have ever happened. This was however anticipated by their demand of a narration of how Abhishek and John had fallen in love. The comically cooked up melodramatic story, again drawn on the lines of familiar Bollywood romances, leaves Priyanka in tears. And, please note, that Priyanka is genuinely moved! It is here that Dostana turns out to be more accepting than Kal Ho Na Ho. In spite of all the issues discussed above, Dostana does try to mainstream gay love by appropriating the formula of the romantic comedy. This mainstreaming was necessary. Since Bollywood has a major role to play in moulding popular psyche, Dostana’s attempt at bringing gayness into the broad sunlight and sheltering it in a Sindhi household would surely work positively.
Returning to the basic premise, we see that this very idea of pretending to be gay occurs to Abhishek when both he and John fail to find a house in Miami. The pretension of being gay finally wins them a home. In this the film speaks loads about the collapse of fixed sexual categories due to globalization. Free movement across the globe has allowed people to come out of the closet and assert their sexual orientation in public. Though in admission forms, passports, or certificates, gender identity is only recognized, these days, online community websites, such as Orkut, clearly ask its subscribers to tick off their sexual identities – gay, straight or bisexual. That the recognition of a sexual identity is necessary besides a gender identity has been urged on by Dostana. The separate queues for gay couples, straight couples or singles at the Miami immigration office underline this. Given the basic premise of the story, Dostana could not have been set in India. Outside the country, gayness is shown to be accepted, and interestingly, the people who do so come of conservative Punjabi or Sindhi families which have emigrated from the country. Could a story like Dostana be ever set in India itself? Or shall we say you can conveniently afford to be gay somewhere out there, but not in India? Dostana could have been really iconoclastic had it been set in the country. Again, the film in a subtle way becomes a commentary on the anxiety of the diasporic communities. In order to belong, one may need to forego his/her sexual identity. The anxiety and high-handedness with which the host country often treats the immigrants is accentuated by John and Abhishek’s becoming officially gay.
Finally, Dostana does win kudos for having a unisex camera. Laura Mulvey would definitely applaud Ayanank Bose for this. The camera gives equal space to the male and the female body and lovingly caresses both. The sexual orientation of the voyeur (read viewer) has not been, thankfully, taken for granted as “heterosexual male”. While John’s perfectly chiselled body and naughty inner wear moments leave you breathless, Priyanka’s vivacity supported by perfectly designed outfits catalyse the barometer into rising really high. John had never looked so irresistibly hot and Priyanka till date seemed to have never discovered her innocently sexy self! And yes, Abhishek also has his share in inspiring gay fantasy with his highly sensitive performance, not deterred by his bulging tummy.
Mind you, Dostana is open-ended. Priyanka asks the couple that whether there was not even a single moment when they had actually felt something for each other. Neither of the boys replies but goes different ways, leaving the audience wondering as to what the real answer could be.