Curated for Pride Library, University of Western Ontorio, Canada
Copyright Sridhar Rangayan, 2009
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DISCLAIMER: All interpretations and readings is by the author. All the images and videos on this site have been used only for reference, collated from sources on the internet.
CREDITS
Title: Silsila
English Title: The Affair
Year: 1981
Language: Hindi
Subtitle: English
Genre: Feature / Popular Entertainer
Director: Yash Chopra
SYNOPSIS
Scriptwriter Amit and military pilot Shekhar are brothers and also very good friends. The latter is happily engaged to Shobha, while the former has just fallen in love with pretty, young Chandni. But tragedy strikes when Shekhar's plane is shot down. Amit feels it to be his obligation to leave the girl he loves and marry his brother's pregnant fiance instead. But when, by an unexpected turn, Amit and the now also married Chandni meet again, their love for each other proves to be stronger than their marital vows.
QUEER NOTES
The undercurrents between the two male protagonists Amit and Shekhar is unmistakable. The most telling scene being the one where they are showering together when the soap drops to the floor. Each anticipates the other to bend down and pick it up, suddenly both start laughing uproariously. Shekhar says, "I'm not going to bend down. I know what happened last time." This is the clearest reference to the "penetrating" image of Amitabh Bachchan (Amit). The gay construct in Silsila is of gay men as in the West. There is no playing around with gender; it is a straightforward, clear cut sexual bonding held above the usual male bonding. When Shekhar dies, Amit smashes a TV set in grief, becomes unstably emotional, and suffers a breakdown. His secondary consolation prize is the film's perfunctory heroine, who cuddles and comforts him, saying, "Well, you'll have to be happy with me" ! 20
ACTOR/S IN QUEER ROLE
Amitabh Bacchan as Amit and Shashi Kaporr as Shekhar (male bonding)
LINKS
Imdb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0083081/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silsila_(film)
queer portrayals in Indian films