Leiden University Student Repository

Pan, Ching (2020)

The Role of Indian Films in Shaping and Representing Queer Identity in India

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

This thesis examines queer representation in Indian films, following the 1998 release of Fire – the first queer film in India. Fire is a landmark film, a radical change and challenge to depictions of queer individuals in film, bringing queer visibility into mainstream cinema. The films analysed in the thesis include Bollywood cinema, new Indian Indies and documentaries. I conduct a film analysis, exploring how specific sexual and gender identities and the queer community are represented in films and how these films reflect Indian society at their time of release. By examining the story structure, overall image of queer protagonists and cinematography, I argue that queer identity in Indian films after Fire has generally become more diverse and complicated. While Indian cinema tends to portray middle-class queer life, documentaries focus on the queer individuals who are further marginalised in society. Portrayals of queer subjectivity can vary according to the type of film and the...Show moreThis thesis examines queer representation in Indian films, following the 1998 release of Fire – the first queer film in India. Fire is a landmark film, a radical change and challenge to depictions of queer individuals in film, bringing queer visibility into mainstream cinema. The films analysed in the thesis include Bollywood cinema, new Indian Indies and documentaries. I conduct a film analysis, exploring how specific sexual and gender identities and the queer community are represented in films and how these films reflect Indian society at their time of release. By examining the story structure, overall image of queer protagonists and cinematography, I argue that queer identity in Indian films after Fire has generally become more diverse and complicated. While Indian cinema tends to portray middle-class queer life, documentaries focus on the queer individuals who are further marginalised in society. Portrayals of queer subjectivity can vary according to the type of film and the nature of the target audience.Show less

Indian films

queer representation

film analysis

Author

Pan, Ching

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Gupta, Radhika

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en