‘There aren’t enough stori about ,’ says filmmaker Onir on his new book, I Am Onir and I Am Gay - The Hdu

Contents:

• ONIR ON HIS BOOK I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: ‘I HOPE TO EMPOWER THE LGBTQ MUNY’
• INTERVIEW, ONIR, THOR, I AM ONIR, AND I AM GAY – “I AM THE SUABLE BOY”
• I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY
• I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: A MEMOIR
• I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY
• I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: A MEMOIR
• ‘THERE AREN’T ENOUGH STORI ABOUT ’: THE QUEER DIRECTOR ON HIS MEMOIR, I AM ONIR, AND I AM GAY

ONIR ON HIS BOOK I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: ‘I HOPE TO EMPOWER THE LGBTQ MUNY’

Natnal Award-wng filmmaker Onir, whose directorial but, My Brother Nikhil, broke new ground LGBT reprentatn on the silver screen, has penned down his memoir tled ‘ I Am Onir and I Am Gay’.

In 2021, when the lockdown was also there and he aga spoke and then I spoke to my sister Irene, and then we thought that maybe 's not a bad ia bee not too many people om the dtry or otherwise who are out and proud and who n even say whout hatn that I am gay. Equaly is non-negotiable, says the tagle of your book but do you thk India, LGBT rights are protected on paper but discrimatn and homophobia persist? Like I feel that how women filmmakers reprent women differently, the same way, there is somethg lled queer gaze and I feel that someone who is out and proud of beg gay looks at our liv differently.

Director-producer-screenwrer Onir, who is bt known for makg path breakg feature films wh gay protagonists, pecially My Brother...

INTERVIEW, ONIR, THOR, I AM ONIR, AND I AM GAY – “I AM THE SUABLE BOY”

Nikhil (2005) and I Am (2010), speaks to about his memoir I Am Onir, and I Am Gay. Co-thored wh his sister Irene Dhar Malik, who is an edor and screenwrer, the book offers a ndid acunt of his life as a gay man workg Bollywood, and before that. Film maker and thor Onir (Courty the publisher) Your sister, Irene, has been your biggt ally sce you me out as gay.

What is like to be one of the few openly gay filmmakers Bombay’s film dtry?

There are other gay filmmakers but they rarely speak of their sexual orientatn publicly. When rich and succsful gay people tell me that g out should be a choice and there should be no prsure to e out, I rpect their stand but I also tell them, “If you’re a posn like this, you should make the effort.

I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY

No straight person has to live a closet, so why should gay people have to? I should ment only after I have read films are often pted agast his discsns about gay characters Hdi cema. He is seen as tryg to make homosexualy palatable to straight dienc and even g for ic relief.

Homophobia is not funny. Actually, when I lived Bhutan, I did not even know the word ‘gay’.

I didn’t know that one of my clost iends was gay.

I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: A MEMOIR

I had experienced homosexual enunters but I never saw them through the lens of love. When you grow up a heteronormative environment whout any gay reprentatn popular culture, you end up thkg that love n happen only between men and women. The possibily of a fulfillg gay relatnship don’t occur to you.

They refed to give me a no-objectn certifite for the script of my other film We Are bee one of protagonists is a gay soldier.

It is the story of an out and proud gay filmmaker, and revolv around three different phas of his life tersectg wh key ton om India’s queer history. Now one of the few openly gay directors Bollywood, Onir remas fearls about his inty and passnate about his role as a filmmaker openg up the road to difficult nversatns about inty and rilience.

I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY

I Am Onir and I Am Gay is a raw, eloquent and spirg memoir about nontg and transcendg ontiers. I Am Onir and I Am Gay: A Memoir. ”In one of the rare memorable bs of his memoir I Am Onir and I Am Gay, the film-maker Onir evok the kd of longg remiscent of his bt works such as My Brother… Nikhil (2005) and the Natnal Award-wng anthology film I Am (2010).

I am Onir and I am GayBy Onir wh Irene Dhar Malik(Pengu Vikg, 2022)Pag: 288Price: Rs. And we need to look no further than our epics to know that an oral storytellg tradn, there are always digrsns before the storyteller returns to the primary I am Onir and I am Gay is no epic, and the numero digrsns leave the rear weary.

Filmmaker Onir, 53, seems to be dog both wh alacry his memoir, I Am Onir & I Am Gay(Vikg, an imprt of Pengu, 2022), wrten wh his sister Irene Dhar Malik, a Natnal Award-wng film edor and a Zoom ll, he says that he wrote the book bee growg up he “didn’t have any reference pot”; even today, “there are not many books out there by someone who is out and proud, whout shame”.

I AM ONIR AND I AM GAY: A MEMOIR

The book ver of I Am Onir, and I Am GayMum don’t approveI Am Onir, and I Am Gay has been receivg posive early rpons. “When homosexualy was re-crimalised 2013, my niece went to school wearg black, prottg: ‘My mama [uncle] is gay’.

‘THERE AREN’T ENOUGH STORI ABOUT ’: THE QUEER DIRECTOR ON HIS MEMOIR, I AM ONIR, AND I AM GAY

Though his sequel to the 2011 film, tled We Are — spired by a real-life gay officer forced to qu the India Army bee of his sexual orientatn — was nied a no-objectn certifite (NOC), he didn’t let the disappotment shake his nvictn to tell queer stori. Nikhil and Shab at a time when homosexualy was crimalised by law, but beg nied an NOC post-Sectn 377 India.