VIDHAN/ WRIT
India, 2020, 84 minutes, Colour.
Ranojoy Bishnu, Rohan Verma, Anuj Jain.
Directed by Manoj Rai.
This brief film comes with all kinds of acknowledgements, screenings at festivals, awards. It caused some surprise for audiences who did not expect an Indian film with gay themes.
The film focuses on a group of gay men who gathered together every so often, comparing notes, arranging partners, taking their orientation for granted, alert to gossip, but confident in themselves.
The central character is a financial chief in a business, paid well, seen often in his office, chatting with a co-worker, female, who also is a guest at the parties. At one of the meetings, he encounters a young man who says he is an IT programmer but also earns more as a male escort. He goes home with the financier, they begin a relationship, always well paid.
This is a very wordy film – and it is about words. There is an initial discussion about the nuances of a Hindu word, the two men discussing the issue, the financial taking it to work for a solution. And, this kind of conversation continues throughout the film, especially in the bedroom sequence with the pillow talk is all about words, their origins, in Hindi, in English… Unless one is a philologist or a linguist, these conversations, very long, will test the patience and attention of many audiences. But, the precision of language and meaning is a key metaphor for the depth of the relationship.
There are ups and downs in the relationship between the two men, the sex worker going on various designations, the financial finding this difficult. And, there are more discussions at the parties, especially with the key organiser of the parties and a range of partnerships.
There is an unusual device where the financier who has a moustache – and the sex worker who doesn’t, are seen alternately in sequences where the financier has shaved and the sex worker has the moustache.
Finally, the two together, there is a visit from a masseur who was in a previous relationship with the financier, and they sit down to a meal – and discussion.
Frank in its presentation of men of homosexual orientation and the relationships but very reserved in the visual presentation of the encounters between the men.
