Rhymes with rex

NEW DELHI: Sometime this month, social media feeds went into a tizzy over an advert pertaining to a certain men’s sexual wellness product. The decidedly-kooky ad features Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh teaming up with an American adult entertainer Johnny Sins for a Hindi TV soap-opera inspired take on addressing erectile dysfunction. The self-conscious parody was cheesy and groundbreaking in equal measure, on account of the frank manner in which it attempted to address a sexual health concern that is often swept under the rug, or the sheets (forgive the pun). Never mind that Kollywood has been way ahead of the curve — Kalyana Samayal Saadham, had dealt with this issue back in 2013.

The Hindi advert inspired heated debates on propriety in media today, and the question of whether India had come of age, vis-a-vis talking about sex. On one hand, there were those who believed that pandering to Gen Z with suggestive content was demonstrative of spiritual bankruptcy. There were others who believed it was about time we shed our inhibitions and offered a safe space for such ‘uncomfortable’ conversations.

Interestingly, the subject of sex, sexual identity, or behaviour is something mainstream media seldom depicts with nuance and gender-sensitivity. The tendency has more or less been to employ risque content in measured doses to offer impressionable viewers (of all ages) just the right amount of titillation to ensure that the multiplex seats are occupied. Last year, a Hindi film titled Thank You for Coming was unleashed on weary audiences here.

Marketed as a loud, ribald sex comedy, the film chronicled a 30-something heroine’s never-ending pursuit of an elusive orgasm. While critics lauded the feature for its feminist leanings and for broaching the subject of female pleasure, the audiences weren’t too taken by it. And why would they, considering OTT shows like Four More Shots Please, and Lust Stories had already dealt with the subject with varying degrees of success, and cringe. Why, almost two decades ago, Deepa Mehta’s Fire (1996), starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das had created history with its deeply empathetic portrait of two women in love. The film enraged right wing extremists who went on to vandalise theatres in Mumbai. Cadres of the Shiv Sena, who rampaged through theatres and staged a dharna by stripping to their underwear, earned the plaudits of then Chief Minister, late Manohar Joshi who deemed the contents of the film, ‘alien to our culture’. Bajrang Dal workers in Surat set fire to some theatres screening the film.

Two decades later, Hindutva groups were baying for blood again. A song called Besharam Rang, from the SRK film Pathaan, featured actress Deepika Padukone in a saffron coloured bikini, that seemingly ‘was disrespectful, and promoted obscenity.’ The film was cleared by the CBFC with minor cuts — and the song was retained (so was the saffron bikini). By the way, Ullu Digital, an adult OTT platform, recently filed draft papers with the BSE SME to raise funds to the tune Rs 135-150 crore through an IPO.

Amidst all this white noise and static interference, filmmakers in Kerala crafted something truly remarkable last year. The Mammootty-Jyothika starrer Kaathal - The Core, depicted the inner turmoil of a closeted gay man in a sublime and poignant manner. It was living, breathing proof that there was a space where these narratives could find a sounding board. We just needed to stop, and listen sans prejudice.