Love in the Midst of Fascism: Gender and Sexuality in the Contemporary Indian Documentary

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes I wish to thank Amar Kanwar for insights into his thinking, filmmaking, and the realities of independent filmmaking in India today. Thanks are also due to Rahul Roy for his film; to Sudesh Balan and Todd Strother for help with this article; and to Tom Waugh, Chuck Kleinhans, and Ruth Vanita, for critical comments. A version of this article was presented at the Visible Evidence Conference, Marseilles, in December 2002. A perfect example was the controversy surrounding Deepa Mehta's Fire [1998]. Film screenings were accompanied by violent agitations against the film by the Shiv Sena and threats to the film's leading actress, Shabana Azmi. For an excellent discussion of the political debate, see Geeta Patel [2002 Kishwar , Madhu 1999 Naive Outpourings of a Self-Hating Indian: Deepa Mehta's Fire . Manushi , 109 ( March–April ): 6 – 11 . [CSA] [Google Scholar]] and Monica Bachmann [2002 Bachmann , Monica 2002 After the Fire . In Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society . Ruth Vanita , ed. Pp. 234 – 244 . New York and London : Routledge . [Google Scholar]]. For a fuller critique of Kishwar and Seabrook, see Ruth Vanita [2002 Vanita , Ruth , ed. 2002 Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society . New York and London : Routledge . [Google Scholar]] and Monica Bachmann [2002 Bachmann , Monica 2002 After the Fire . In Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society . Ruth Vanita , ed. Pp. 234 – 244 . New York and London : Routledge . [Google Scholar]]. The Sangh is the short form of what is called the R.S.S, standing for Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Corps of Nationalist Volunteers. The R.S.S. was established in 1925 and its foremost leader, V.D. Savarkar, declared in 1938, “We Hindus are a Nation by ourselves.” See Sumit Sarkar [1983 Sarkar , Sumit 1983 Modern India: 1885–1947 . New Delhi : Macmillan India . [Google Scholar]: 356]. The Sangh was also responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, being angry at what they perceived to be his pro-Pakistan stance. The V.H.P. (Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the World Hindu Council) is the religious branch of the R.S.S. The Bajrang Dal Monkey Brigade is the youth wing of the R.S.S. The former ruling party, the BJP, is politically aligned with the Sangh, with the erstwhile Prime Minister an old member of the Sangh. At the BJP's National Executive Meeting in Panaji, Goa, from April 12 to 14, in which Prime Minister Vajpayee went back on his earlier mild criticism of Modi and took the Hindutva hard line. His exact words, quoted by Aijaz Ahmed [2002 Ahmed , Aijaz 2002 Cry the Beloved Country . Frontline , 19 ( 13 ): June 22–July 5 . [CSA] [Google Scholar]], “Wherever Muslims live in large numbers they don't want to live in peace with others.” For a queer reading of male friendships in popular Indian cinema, see Muraleedharan [2002 Muraleedharan , T. 2002 Queer Bonds: Male Friendships in Contemporary Malayalam Cinema . In Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society . Ruth Vanita , ed. Pp. 181 – 192 . New York and London : Routledge . [Google Scholar]].