Indian Express Film Review: Dunno Y Not Perfect But Breaking New Ground By Exploring Male Homosexuality In India.
Dunno Y Na Jaane Kyun
Director:Sanjay Sharma
Cast:Aryan Vaid, Kapil Sharma, Maradona Rebello, Hazel, Zeenat Aman, Helen, Rituparna Sengupta
Rating:**
The title should have been a dead giveaway of the kind of film Dunno Y.. Na Jaane Kyon turns out to be: a good idea wrapped, and nearly hidden, in clunky execution. Every time something real struggles to come up, it is buried quickly under amateurish acting, or over-written plot points.
Gay persons are not bad people. They are who they are. This is the statement of a fact that can bear repeating in mainstream cinema, but not in the way Dunno Y.. ends up doing it. It takes a long time to get to the point. Till the interval, in fact, when we discover that a husband who neglects the woman he’s married to, is into men. He gets into an affair with an aspiring model-cum-actor who is “auditioning” ( Bollywood euphemism for “sleeping with”) around town. Where Dunno Y.. tries to take it further than just a furtive liason is in the way it shows the relationship between the two men: the married man nearly reaches the point of breaking off with his wife, but his lover refuses to let him.
For a Hindi movie, this is way beyond anything that’s been shown in the homosexual range till now. Not just in the way the men show skin and suck lip, but in the feelings they share: these are people who want to live together, not just have illicit sex. But Dunno Y.. stops well short of being a desi My Beautiful Laundrette or Brokeback Mountain because it doesn’t go the mile. Scared of putting off viewers, it balances the guy thing with a gal thing: the neglected wife is made to have a fling with the gay husband’s younger brother who has the hots for her. It also situates the gay man and his predicament in a much-too complicated Anglo-Indian family, which has an absconding father (Kabir Bedi), a still-youthful mother (Zeenat Aman in a comeback role which gets her to declaim rather than act most of the time) who submits to her lecherous boss because she wants the extras—not for herself, but for her family, which is acknowledged by her cantankerous ma-in-law (Helen) at a crucial moment.
You never quite feel like abandoning Dunno Y..,but you also wish it had been braver and stuck to its core story. Some of the situations are not bad, though, even if the English used by the characters is unintentionally hilarious, and even if some of the physical stuff comes dangerously close to sleaze. Nice takeaway: Helen getting to do a graceful jig after she declares : after all, mujhse achcha kaun dance kar sakta hai.
This Is London Article: Gay Waiter Says He Was Sexually Harassed By Straight Managers Simulated Gay Kiss!!!
Waiter ‘humiliated by managers who simulated gay kiss’
Rashid Razaq
17.11.10
A gay waiter is suing a Michelin-starred restaurant for sexual harassment and discrimination after claiming two male managers simulated a gay kiss and fondled each other in front of him.
Vincent Ma, 31, says he was left feeling “humiliated” following homophobic abuse by staff and customers at the Yauatcha Chinese restaurant in Soho.
A central London employment tribunal heard how Mr Ma was employed as a waiter on “foot running” duties carrying trays of food upstairs from the kitchen, working 45-48 hours a week.
He claims that in December last year he began to be subjected to harassment by managers Imran Khaleel and Eder De Oliveira Fonseca Neto because he was gay.
Giving evidence through an interpreter yesterday, Mr Ma said: “Mr Imran Khaleel noticed my nipples popping out, by pointing at my chest with his finger (but not touching). At the same time he said it was sexy’.”
Chinese-born Mr Ma was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in January, which he says caused him to lose weight and made his physique more “defined”.
“There was a dinner party for the staff of L’Oreal… during their dinner time I was unintentionally shocked when a gay customer pinched my nipple, when I was serving food.
“I told of the situation to Mr Khaleel, that I was being harassed… I was disappointed that he asked me, Do you like it?’.”
The waiter also claimed Mr Khaleel and Mr De Oliveira Fonseca Neto performed “pretend gay kissing” when he passed them on the stairs.
“Their sexual harassment conduct became more aggressive and frequent, I lost my dignity and respect from people,” he said.
Mr Ma also claims insufficient rest breaks and the refusal to make allowances for his health made his diabetes worse. He resigned on 29 May.
Hakkasan Limited, which owns Yauatcha, denies disability discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The hearing continues.
Gayblackcanada 