And that’s how in 2021, during the lockdown, the writing process started.
My sister Irene also thought it was a good idea. I thought about the number of messages I get on social media from young people wanting to know about how it was. What prompted you to write a memoir titled ‘I am Onir, I am Gay’? For five to six years now, my agent Kanishka Gupta has been telling me that it is important for me to tell my story because there are not too many out-and-proud people talking about their lives and their experience. But surprisingly, more than my father, my mother regrets the fact that I don’t use my surname. Even today, a woman will add the surname of her husband but a man does not add the name of the wife. Dropping my surname made me aware of patriarchy. How did Antigonus become Onir? I actually decided to name myself. Whenever I approach a studio or platform with a film, they say “oh, but we are taking baby steps.” I feel, somewhere, there is still resistance and people say: “oh, this is too much.” How can my life be “too much”? Speaking of baby steps, you’ve had a long history of names. And they are told from a very heteronormative perspective.
There are hardly two or three mainstream films with queer narratives every year. Ahead of his soon-to-release memoir ‘I am Onir And I am Gay’, the 53-year-old filmmaker talks to Sharmila Ganesan Ram about why he wanted to claim his identity without shame Has anything changed in terms of representation for the LGBTQIA+ community post decriminalisation of section 377 in 2018? In certain sectors yes, but not in films. In 2022, the defence ministry rejected his film ‘We Are’ which was based on the life of a gay army major. Florida governor Ron DeSantis then initiated a barrage of vitriolic public attacks against Chapek and Disney, which was followed by a massive piling on from the political right.In 2005, many men walked out of theatres screening Onir’s film ‘My Brother Nikhil ’ on finding out that the lead character is gay. After the Pixar employees’ open letter went public, the executive issued an apology, in which he promised to “become a better ally,” and spoke out against Florida’s controversial Florida Parental Rights in Education bill (critically known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law), which had recently been announced at the time. His handling of issues regarding LGBTQ Disney employees and fans has been a source of tremendous criticism from all angles. The cutting and reinstatement of the Lightyear kiss scene are emblematic of Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s turbulent time in charge at the company. That theory is backed up in the Varietyarticle, which claims the Malaysian censorship authority asked for edits to the film, which Disney declined to make. Has there been a response? Disney has not yet commented publicly on the issue, but the film’s banning seems to imply that the company was unwilling to cut the scene a second time just to gain access to the offended markets. Malaysia has been trending in the oposite directions, increasing censorship of films seeking theatrical releases. was revoked after a social media uproar in the region which accused the film and the studio of insulting Muslims and Islam by refusing to remove the scene.
#Gay men kissing gay men license#
However, that license to exhibit the film in the U.A.E. where censors have begun lightening their criteria slightly in recent years. Initially though, it was approved for release in the U.A.E. Were the bans expected? According to a report by Variety, Disney never allowed Saudi censors access to the film, knowing it would not be approved for release in that country. After the letter went public, the scene was quickly restored. Originally, Disney cut the scene before employees at Pixar published an open letter accusing the company of demanding cuts and censorship of any “overtly gay” affection in its kids and family films. What’s the background here? In the scene, new character Alisha, a fellow space ranger to Buzz, shares a kiss with her partner. And, according to Reuters, a Chinese release seems unlikely. Due to the inclusion of a same sex kiss in Pixar’s new Toy Story spinoff Lightyear, the film has been banned in over a dozen Middle Eastern and Asian countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Kuwait.