Pride of place

For Monga,the coming-out parade,in which hundreds marched to Jantar Mantar carrying rainbow flags and wearing headgear and smiles,was a personal signpost. Till then,the filmmaker and journalist had lived a life in the closet,attending underground parties,dodging uncomfortable questions and hoping people would understand and accept. Then the march happened. And it liberated him,he says.

From the other side of the street,Monga watched the swelling crowd approach and he crossed over and marched with them,mingling with the young and the old as the gay pride march gained momentum. “It was an intense experience for me,” he says. “I came out. I celebrated. I was able to tell people I was gay. There were so many of us. There were others like me.”

So he decided to cross over again next year,this time armed with a camera. The six-minute film New Delhi’s Pride 2009 will be shown at the Nigah Queer Festival today. In its third year,the festival,one of the few in India to showcase films and arts that focus on LGBT issues and lives,has become a popular forum for filmmakers and artists who have had a tough time negotiating for space. After the Delhi High Court’s judgment,that space has expanded and more artists have dared to experiment with “unusual stories”.

Mainstream commercial cinema from South Asia focusing on LGBT relationships is rare,Ponni Arasu,one of the organisers,says. “The lack of funding and screening opportunities is a major hurdle,” she says. “From the western world,we receive a lot of mainstream film entries. I guess things will change now that homosexuality is not illegal here.”

When Monga decided to make a movie on the pride march,he could not find sponsors. He put in Rs 6,000 and a friend pitched in. When he told his friends at Nigah about the film,they were more than happy to showcase it during the festival. “Things are looking up,” he says. “I want to stick to this theme. My next project will be about gay love in the hinterland,the acceptance of it. I don’t know where the money will come from but I will make the film.”