01 April,2009 07:57 AM IST | | Ketan Ranga
Visually-impaired NRI makes film on homosexuals; will screen it for the community in city tomorrow
Dostana looked at the lighter side of homosexuality, but Karan Goel (27), an NRI businessman settled in Chandigarh looks at 'The Other Side' of this sensitive subject.
Goel, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa (90 per cent blindness) has made a film, The Other Side, on the gay community that urges society not to treat them as outcasts.
It's his disability that helped him relate to homosexuals. "I have been visually impaired since childhood and though my family supported me, society did not accept me. Homosexuals face similar discrimination."
"When I was studying in the US, I observed that one out of every 10 people I met was a homosexual.
I befriended them and learned that they are a neglected lot. Overseas they find some acceptance, but back home homosexuality is considered a taboo," he added.
Sensitive subject
After Goel returned to India in 2007, he decided to make a film that addresses this sensitive subject. Now that the film is ready, he has planned a special screening for the members of The Humsafar Trust, India's first gay
community organisation tomorrow in the city.
"The movie is based on the hardships faced by the homosexual communities. We need to have feedback from them, and hence have planned for the special screening," said Goel, who is the writer, the producer and associate director of the film.u00a0u00a0u00a0
He added "One needs to understand that homosexuality is not a disease, and this is the message we are trying to spread through our film."
The story
The Other Side is the story of a boy Ankur Mathur, who is abandoned by his family and friends, as he discovers he is a homosexual. The film has Gaurav Bajaj and Manoj Biddvai in the lead roles and is directed by Honney u2014 Rommey.
