The Pink Mirror
Encyclopedia
The Pink Mirror, the Indian release title Gulabi Aaina is an award-winning Indian film drama produced and directed by Sridhar Rangayan
. Said to be the first Indian film to comprehensively focus on Indian transsexuals with the entire story revolving around two transsexuals and a gay teenager's attempts to seduce a man - Samir (Rufy Baqal). The film explores the taboo
subject of transsexuals in India which is still much misundersood and ridiculed.
In 2003, the Central Board of Film Certification
, the Indian Censor Board banned Rangayan's film on Indian transsexuals. The censor board cited that the film was 'vulgar and offensive'. The filmmaker appealed twice again unsuccessfully. The film still remains banned
in India, but has screened at numerous festivals all over the world and won awards. The critics have applauded it for its 'sensitive and touching portrayal of marginalized community'.
India's foremost gay activist Ashok Row Kavi says, in his review, "The wonder is that it was not made before. The reality is that it is here now". India's leading newspaper, the Indian Express termed it - 'This is more than just the "peeping into the closet" that Rangayan intended. It's almost throwing the doors wide open for the world to look in!'
The film has received tremendous support and critical acclaim from reviewers, festival directors and global audiences. It has screened at more than 70 international film festivals and won couple of awards. The film is also used as part of University archives / libraries as resource material in academic courses such as Gender, Nation and the World; Activist Voices in India; Gender and Film course.
Bibbo, a Bollywood fashion designer: loud, raucous and vitriolic.
Shabbo, a dancer: soft, sensuous, and equally malicious!
Two fading queens in their late thirties - passionate, desperate and devastating. Call them sisters or mother & daughter their bonding is unique a bonding that is as shifty as their flights of fancy. One moment they would be bitchy and clawing at each other like alley cats, but the next moment they would reach out to each other as only two sensitive caring human beings can sharing their innermost secrets well, almost all.
It is one of those lazy days when queens can spend endless hours bitching about everybody in town and each other too. Just then in enters Samir - a handsome hunk whom Bibbo claims to be her driver. Only Bibbo doesn't have a car! Samir, an aspiring actor, is being towed around the film party circuit by Bibbo. The moment Shabbo sets her eyes on the hunk, she goes all out to charm and seduce him, right under Bibbo's hawk eyes! Such audacity!
Surely Shabbo has to pay for it with tears. Bibbo has discovered Shabbo's dark secret and would not hesitate in using it as a vile weapon to hit back. Bibbo can be evil personified!
Thrown into this crazy milieu is Shabbo's apprentice - a young pesky teenager Mandy, just about peeping out of his closet... a western closet - who says he is 'gay'! Mandy too has set his eyes on Samir and uses sly snaky ways to lure him - be it moving his butt seductively in front of Samir or taking a sneak peek at him in the shower.
So who will finally win Samir - Bibbo, Shabbo, or Mandy? Does Samir have a say in all this? No! Because, as they say - Queens always have the last say'!
Yours Emotionally
(2006) is a film about a passionate love story between a British Asian from UK and a small town Indian youth. The film received good reviews for its bold and groundbreaking narrative. It has been released on DVD by Waterbearer Films.
68 Pages
(2007) is a film about the lives of five people who fight all odds to survive. It is about stigma and discrimination faced by HIV+ people - a transsexual bar dancer, a commercial sex worker, a gay couple, a heterosexual ID user and a municipality sweeper. The film derives its name from 68 pages of a counselors diary. This film had its world premiere at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK 2007) in December 2007.
Sridhar Rangayan
Sridhar Rangayan ) is an Indian filmmaker who has made films with special focus on queer subjects. His queer films, The Pink Mirror and Yours Emotionally, have been considered groundbreaking because of their realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the largely closeted Indian gay community...
. Said to be the first Indian film to comprehensively focus on Indian transsexuals with the entire story revolving around two transsexuals and a gay teenager's attempts to seduce a man - Samir (Rufy Baqal). The film explores the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
subject of transsexuals in India which is still much misundersood and ridiculed.
In 2003, the Central Board of Film Certification
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
, the Indian Censor Board banned Rangayan's film on Indian transsexuals. The censor board cited that the film was 'vulgar and offensive'. The filmmaker appealed twice again unsuccessfully. The film still remains banned
Banned films
For nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been banned by film censorship or review organizations for political or moral reasons...
in India, but has screened at numerous festivals all over the world and won awards. The critics have applauded it for its 'sensitive and touching portrayal of marginalized community'.
India's foremost gay activist Ashok Row Kavi says, in his review, "The wonder is that it was not made before. The reality is that it is here now". India's leading newspaper, the Indian Express termed it - 'This is more than just the "peeping into the closet" that Rangayan intended. It's almost throwing the doors wide open for the world to look in!'
The film has received tremendous support and critical acclaim from reviewers, festival directors and global audiences. It has screened at more than 70 international film festivals and won couple of awards. The film is also used as part of University archives / libraries as resource material in academic courses such as Gender, Nation and the World; Activist Voices in India; Gender and Film course.
Plot
Two queens have a fight:Bibbo, a Bollywood fashion designer: loud, raucous and vitriolic.
Shabbo, a dancer: soft, sensuous, and equally malicious!
Two fading queens in their late thirties - passionate, desperate and devastating. Call them sisters or mother & daughter their bonding is unique a bonding that is as shifty as their flights of fancy. One moment they would be bitchy and clawing at each other like alley cats, but the next moment they would reach out to each other as only two sensitive caring human beings can sharing their innermost secrets well, almost all.
It is one of those lazy days when queens can spend endless hours bitching about everybody in town and each other too. Just then in enters Samir - a handsome hunk whom Bibbo claims to be her driver. Only Bibbo doesn't have a car! Samir, an aspiring actor, is being towed around the film party circuit by Bibbo. The moment Shabbo sets her eyes on the hunk, she goes all out to charm and seduce him, right under Bibbo's hawk eyes! Such audacity!
Surely Shabbo has to pay for it with tears. Bibbo has discovered Shabbo's dark secret and would not hesitate in using it as a vile weapon to hit back. Bibbo can be evil personified!
Thrown into this crazy milieu is Shabbo's apprentice - a young pesky teenager Mandy, just about peeping out of his closet... a western closet - who says he is 'gay'! Mandy too has set his eyes on Samir and uses sly snaky ways to lure him - be it moving his butt seductively in front of Samir or taking a sneak peek at him in the shower.
So who will finally win Samir - Bibbo, Shabbo, or Mandy? Does Samir have a say in all this? No! Because, as they say - Queens always have the last say'!
Cast
| Actor | Character | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ramesh Menon | Bibbo | A Bollywood fashion designer: loud, raucous and vitriolic. He/she loves to camp it up and thinks he/she is a master at seducing men. When he/she sees Shabbo and Mandy stealing her current boyfriend Samir, she gets very upset and nasty. |
| Edwin Fernandes | Shabbo | A dancer: soft, sensuous, and equally malicious! When he/she comes to Bibbo's house, he/she falls for the hunky Samir and makes attempts to seduce him. During the fight with Bibbo, his/her secret is revealed - that Shabbo is HIV positive. |
| Rishi Raj | Mandy | A young pesky teenager just about peeping out of his closet… a western closet - a westernized teenager who says he is 'gay', much to the ire of Bibbo who calls herself 'kothi' (transsexual). Mandy falls for Samir, creating a triangle. |
| Rufy Baqal | Samir | A handsome hunk whom Bibbo claims to be her driver. Samir, an aspiring actor, is being towed around the film party circuit by Bibbo. The moment Shabbo sets her eyes on the hunk, she goes all out to charm and seduce him, right under Bibbo’s hawk eyes. |
Festivals
The film has been shown in many festivals- Fire Island Film Festival
- 12th Le Festival Question de Genre– Gay Kitschcamp
- Fire Island Film and Video Festival
- 18th Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
- Digital Talkies Film Festival
- 6th Pink Apple Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
- Queer Filmstan
- Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
- Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival
- Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
- Hamburg International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
- Cork Film Festival
- Lehigh Valley Queer Film Festival
- Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival
- Out Takes Dallas Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
- Rhode Island International Film Festival
- Translations - Seattle Transgender Film Festival, USA (May 2009)
Awards
- Jury AwardNew York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film FestivalNewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival put on by The New Festival, Inc., is one of the most comprehensive forums of international LGBT film/video in the world....
for Best Feature, Fire Island, New YorkFire Island, New YorkFire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately long and varies between broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places , and villages, all of which lie within the...
, USA - Best Film of the Festival, Question de Genre Lille, France
Other related films
Since The Pink Mirror, its director, Sridhar Rangayan, has made two more films dealing with gays and transgenders:Yours Emotionally
Yours Emotionally
Yours Emotionally is a United Kingdom-Indian co-produced film with a gay theme. The film was selected for participation in LGBT film festivals in San Francisco , New York , Amsterdam and others.-Summary:The film raises issues of cultural identities and challenges stereotypes...
(2006) is a film about a passionate love story between a British Asian from UK and a small town Indian youth. The film received good reviews for its bold and groundbreaking narrative. It has been released on DVD by Waterbearer Films.
68 Pages
68 Pages
68 Pages is a 2007 Indian film about a HIV/AIDS counselor and five of her counselees who are from various marginalized communities. The film is directed by Sridhar Rangayan and produced by The Humsafar Trust in association with Solaris Pictures. It had its world premiere at the International Film...
(2007) is a film about the lives of five people who fight all odds to survive. It is about stigma and discrimination faced by HIV+ people - a transsexual bar dancer, a commercial sex worker, a gay couple, a heterosexual ID user and a municipality sweeper. The film derives its name from 68 pages of a counselors diary. This film had its world premiere at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK 2007) in December 2007.