Filmmaker Onir’s memoir, I Am Onir, and I Am Gay (Viking, an imprint of Penguin, 2022) — written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, a National Award-winning film editor and screenwriter — is out. Over a Zoom call, he says that he wrote the book because growing up he “didn’t have any reference point”; even today, “there are not many books out there by someone who is out and proud, without shame”.
Divided into four parts, it not only takes you through his boyhood years — a time when he felt extremely shy and highly conscious about his skin colour — but also narrates a rewarding queer life that has witnessed hardships, triumphs, and heartbreaks in equal measure.
When I ask why he chose the title, given that his sexuality is “not the all-defining factor”, he shares that “for someone who’s probably closeted or struggling with their identity, to find a book proudly claiming to be queer can be empowering”. But for Onir, it was also about “asserting an identity that people used to think will hold themselves back”.
Published - July 02, 2022 01:53 pm IST
