In the midst of an animated conversation on Aligarh , writer-editor Apurva Asrani exults, “Already after watching the trailer many people are coming out and loving the protagonist.” Suddenly, Manoj Bajpayee, who is playing the protagonist starts laughing. “See, I am heterosexual and he is homosexual but we are the same,” says Manoj metaphorically comparing the lining of his jacket with Apurva’s. “I mean they are not laughing at him,” Apurva continues with his line of thought. A lot has to do with the way our mainstream films represent gay characters. “It has done more harm than good. We are brought up like that if I see such instincts in you, I must correct you. I will counsel, I will hit you but ultimately you have to marry and produce babies. You have to take the same cycle. There are a lot of people who suppress it and when they get a little opportunity you explode with it but you can’t explode with it honestly because you are taught to be dishonest. So you make fun of it, ridicule it because that is considered okay by the society. It is the result of the pervading homophobia around,” relates Apurva.
Manoj says he was always disturbed with the stereotyping of people in films. “Like when we show a servant from Bihar in our films, it undermines the whole purpose of his existence in the narrative. And mind you if our industry is at fault, so is Hollywood. They also stereotype gay characters. To me homosexuality has nothing to do with the character. There are certain effeminate characteristics but you have to really look for them. I tried to make it almost impossible for the viewers. I wanted to test their intelligence. Other than that there is nothing. It is only about how this man was wronged and his reluctance to fight.”
For the uninitiated, Manoj and Apurva met during the making of Satya where Apruva was the editor and Manoj was obviously playing Bhiku Mahatre. “I know Apurva since he was a kid. Now he treats me like a kid. Anurag (Kashyap) and he have grown in front of me.” “He was also a kid then but he matured much faster than us. We used to go together for beer on my Kinetic Honda. We used to dance together. He never judged me.” “I love people who are aggressively sincere and Apurva is one such guy. Now he is much more well-informed and coming out from a closet gay to an open gay has given him strength. When you start gaining knowledge, your knowledge becomes your power and you develop a spine and that spine gets stronger as you acquire more ideas.”
“There is a closet of sexuality and then there is yet another closet…,” Apurva chips in. “All these years I have been an editor. I was contributing to films but my contribution was invisible. I was feeling that my voice is not coming out. With Aligarh I have bridged that barrier.” “Whether you love me or not, I love you,” shouts Manoj. “You were my Marathi Bhiku Mahatre and now you are my Marathi Siras,” Apurva returns the favour.
Take two
Based on true events in the life of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of Marathi in Aligarh Muslim University, who was allegedly hounded because of his relationship with a rickshaw puller, Aligarh is making news because of various reasons. Pahlaj Nilhani has justified the A certificate to the trailer by saying that the film deals with something that is unconstitutional. Some media observers have called it an issue of institutional bias. Social scientists might see a class angle in it. For the lay audience it is the story of an outsider who teaches Marathi in a city known for its Urdu. The city of locks might open a few latches in popular culture. Here Manoj Bajpayee and Apurva Asrani open up in a candid conversation:
Mature subject?
Apurva: Psychiatrists say that children become sexually aware at the age of 10-11. When a subject like this comes out, a family can talk about it at the dinner table. He is an affable person. So when the child sees him he sees a role model. On prime time television there are already shows like Modern Family, whose episodes sometimes run back-to-back. It features a gay couple who has adopted a child who has got married. So kids know about it.
Manoj: The film doesn’t talk about what it means to be gay. It is looking into the life of lonely poet who was wronged. Your sexuality doesn’t make or break or your character. My heterosexuality has nothing to do with my character. My character comes from my upbringing, my education and my experiences. The child should get a perspective that this is the story of an innocent man who happens to be gay.
On Ramchandra Siras
Manoj: The more you push him into the corner, he starts liking that corner. He creates his own space there and starts enjoying it.
Apurva: Apart from extensive research, I have lent my experiences as a gay man to the character. When you keep a secret, it tends to become your little world. You tend to create a space where, at least, you are not lying. When I was growing up in the 80s as a young gay person, I used to think that I am the only gay person in the world. Then I came across a magazine Bombay Dost and realised that I am not alone. Slowly with exposure to films, my awareness increased.
Society’s reaction/ Institutional bias
Manoj: Though Siras was a professor and chairman of the department, he was looked down upon by his peers. Having been found with a rickshaw puller was just an excuse.
Apurva : I think there was a classist reaction but I agree he was anyway pushed into a corner.
