Critical Acclaim

Critiques

Congratulations on THE PINK MIRROR. It is totally fabulous. We have watched it twice. ~ David Pearce, Programmer, Queerscreen,Mardi Gras Film Festival, NSW, Sydney, Australia
The crowd response was very favorable. Lot's of laughs and a number of people left the movie wanting to buy our DVD compilation which surely has your film- The Pink Mirror... so I would say it was a really good showing.
~ Rob Connoley, Executive DirectorIndianapolis LGBT Film Festival, Indiana, USA

I loved Pink Mirror.
~ Michael Barrett, Director of ProgrammingVancouver Queer Film + Video Festival, Canada

We adore Indian films… we were so happy to see your movie.
~ Patrick Cardon, Program DirectorLe Festival Question de Genre, Lille, France

Your work was part of another wildly successful festival attended by over 14,000 film lovers. We would not be able to present the largest gay & lesbian film festival in the southwest without the creativity and vision of filmmakers such as yourself.
~ Scott Dinger, Director of ProgrammingAustin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival

I am looking forward to seeing your film more now than ever...especially because of the content...we have a very large gay audience in Palm Springs.
~ Thomas Ethan Harris, Director of ProgrammingPalm Springs International Short Film Festival

And you know what one of the major rules around here is - IF IT'S BANNED, IT'S GOOD.
~ Film Threat online, USA

Sridhar Rangayan’s two-year-old short feature “The Pink Mirror”, one of the most delightful films in the festival, was the first film about transvestites ever made in India and is banned in its native land. Bitchy banter, drama queen drama, handsome studs, dances and songs—and a dose of grim, health-related reality (to a melodramatic motif from Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”)—fill its 40 minutes.
~ Bruce-Michael GelbertCritic, Fire Island Q News, USA

To me Gulabi Aaina seems like bridging a gap between say, Fire and Bombay Boys, more so its in Hindi, that in my opinion is adding that breadth of reality that people seem to bypass, the language of the masses. And reading from the website and other reviews, it reminds me of Benegal's Mandi, the black comedy, which is less of a story and more of character plays set in an unashamed, gaudily portrayed, in-your-face bordello.
~ Manisha Bhalekar-Kulkarni, Art Historian & Film CritiqueOhio State University

The screening at the San Francisco ILGFF went really well. The audience was mixed and Gulabi Aaina was shown with a number of other films. People, especially the Hindi speakers were giggling throughout the film. Its very exciting to see new queer images appear from India and am very proud that you, someone who did so much at Humsafar are bringing your activist and artist worlds together.~ Javid SyedFeedback on San Francisco ILGFF screening, SF, USA
We would like to warmly & whole-heartedly congratulate you on your fabulous & most remarkable PIECE OF ART we have seen at 27th SFILGFF !!! We were absolutely taken & fascinated by your film.
~ Mr. Avi Klammer & Mr. Clarence ReeseOakland CA, U.S.A.

Congratulations! The screenings of your film were a success.
~ Xavier-Daniel, Festival DirectorFestival Internacional de Cinema Gai I Lèsbic, Barcelona

Intimate, sad and humorous…Gulabi Aaina... An excellent example of Indian cinema, and it is surprising to know that it has been prohibited in its country.
~ Daniel Prada, Film Critic Gaybarcelona.net, Spain

The Pink Mirror …fascinating … pleased to see Indian filmmakers are tackling sensitive subjects…
~ Bryan PearsonVariety, USA

Yeah the audience was hooting and cheering and clapping. It was the best received of the gay shorts in the program. People really enjoyed it.
~ Sandip Roy, Co-Chair, TrikoneFeedback on Queer Filmistan, SF, USA

Quick note, the screening went really well and the audience really loved the film. People were laughing throughout at the appropriate times and were really appreciative of how well the film was made, the acting, the camp and the Hindi film drama.
~ Javid SyedFeedback on Queer Filmistan, SF, USA

Gulabi Aaina is a heartfelt hilarious romp throughthe over-the-top world of our Meena Kumaris and their boytoys ... CONGRATULATIONS on your pioneering achievement. It takes great courage, conviction and dedication to put one's own finances and resources behind projects of this nature.
~ Riyad Vinci Wadia, Pioneering Indian Gay FilmmakerMumbai, India

Watching Gulabi Aaina was a great experience …so many North Indian Divas 'living it' in the audience, was something you could not barter with.
~ Vidheesh TyagiNew Delhi, India

I finally got the chance to see 'Gulabi Aaina' and I was ready to roll down the aisle, laughing! The humour is tongue-in-cheek and many of the situations (deliberately and cleverly) are satires of telly soap operas.
~ Yusuf, Mumbai, India

I just got to watch Gulabi Aaina, and had so much fun. Thanks for making such a fun film that covers so many things, family, love, mujras, HIV with such adeptness, without making any of it seem tragic (though there are some sad moments).
~ Javid SyedSF, USA

In some ways the film shows an "indigenous" way of same sex attraction and lifestyle there. As everyone is nervous abut cultural imperialism and importing homosexuality from the west, this shows that there are entire subcultures with their own slang and lingo that goes about being gay without needing to borrow from stonewall. At the same time other characters in the film who know about gay but not about kothi show how these different ways of looking at same sex attraction are coming together/colliding with each other in modern India.
~ Sandip Roy, EditorTrikone, SF, USA

Its India's first "drag queen" film and is a wonderfully light romp through the exaggerated world of our suffering-in-sequence Meena Kumaris and their penchant for muscular men. The film also flirts with concepts and constructs of the cultural divide between western and Indian reading of gay culture.
~ Riyad Vinci WadiaDirector - Wadia Movietone Pvt. Ltd, Bombay, India

Awards / Honors

Awards / Honors:

* Jury Award for Best Feature
Fire Island Film Festival, Cherry Grove, NY, USA September 18, 2004

* Best Film of the Festival
12th Le Festival Question De Genre– Gay Kitschcamp, Lille, FRANCE November, 2003

* Closing Film
Fire Island Film And Video Festival, New York, USA September 18, 2004
Between The Lines, MIT, Massachusetts, USA April, 2004

Festivals where Gulabi Aaina has screened

List of Festivals

* 18TH TURIN INTERNATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, Turin, ITALY
April 23, 2003 Panorama Section (Shorts)

* DIGITAL TALKIES FILM FESTIVAL, New Delhi, INDIA
April 27, 2003 Competitive Section
(Screening cancelled because the Censor Board of India banned the film for public screening in India as it deals with homosexuality)

* 6TH PINK APPLE GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, Zürich, SWITZERLAND
May 10, 2003 & May 18, 2003 Features Section

* 20TH BUSAN ASIAN SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2003, Busan, SOUTH KOREA
May 18, 2003 & May 20, 2003 Asian Scope Section

* 27TH SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL, USA
June 23, 2003 ‘Bhangra by the Bay’ Shorts Programme

* QUEER FILMISTAN 2003, San Francisco, USA
August 29, 2003 Opening Film

* 16TH AUSTIN GAY & LESBIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Austin, TEXAS, USA
August 31, 2003

* INDIANAPOLIS LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, Indianapolis, INDIANA, USA
September 14, 2003

* BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, Barcelona, SPAIN
October 14, 2003 & October 15, 2003

* 14TH HAMBURG INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL, GERMANY
October 18, 2003

* LARZISH: 1ST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF SEXUALITY & GENDER PLURALITY, INDIA
October 18, 2003 Centerpiece Presentation: High Tea with Queens

* 48TH CORK FILM FESTIVAL, Cork, IRELAND
October 19, 2003 OUTLOOK Lesbian And Gay Programme

* 10TH LEHIGH VALLEY QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, Lehigh University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA October 22, 2003 ‘Gender Blender’ Screening

* 12TH LE FESTIVAL QUESTION DE GENRE– GAY KITSCHCAMP, Lille, FRANCE
November 9, 2003 Award Winner - Best Film of the Festival

* PRIDE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Manila, PHILLIPINES
November 5 – 9, 2003
(Festival postponed to 2004)

* REELING 2003: THE 22ND CHICAGO LESBIAN & GAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Illinois, USA November 11, 2003

* MEZIPATRA 2003 – 4TH CZECH GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, CZECH REPUBLIC
Brno November 16, 2003 Prague November 23, 2003

* 11TH MIX BRASIL: FESTIVAL OF SEXUAL DIVERSITY, São Paulo, BRAZIL
November 20, 2003

* OUT TAKES DALLAS LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL, Dallas, Texas, USA
November 22, 2003

* 18TH BRUSSELS GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, BELGIUM
January 18, January 21 & January 24, 2004

* MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
February 15, 2004

* LA MANICA TAGLIATA GAY & LESBIAN THEATRE AND FILM FESTIVAL, Modena, ITALY
February 18, 2004

* 14TH MELBOURNE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
March 18, 2004

* QUEER ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER FILM SERIES, New York, USA
The GBT Project of the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA)
March 22, 2004




* BETWEEN THE LINES, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA
April 3, 2004 Closing Film: Goodbye…in Pink!

* QUEER ZAGREB, CROATIA
April 25, 2004

* QUEER COOLTURA, Rijeka, CROATIA
April 29, 2004

* 3RD COMMONWEALTH FILM FESTIVAL, Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
May 6, 2004

* INSIDE OUT TORONTO LESBIAN AND GAY FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL, Ontario, CANADA
May 29, 2004
* WAY OUT WEST QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
June 4 & June 6, 2004

* OUT TAKES 2004, NEW ZEALAND
Auckland June 7, 2004 Wellington June 12, 2004

* MANILA PINK FILM FESTIVAL, PHILIPPINES
June 17, June 27 & July 5, 2004

* 6TH Q CINEMA – FORT WORTH'S GAY & LESBIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Texas, USA
June 20, 2004

* SIDDHARTHA GAUTAM FILM FESTIVAL, Calcutta, INDIA
June 26, 2004

* 9TH MOSTRA LAMBDA BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN FILM EXPO, SPAIN
July 5, 2004

* 16TH ANNIVERSARY VANCOUVER QUEER FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL, CANADA
August 10, 2004

* FIRE ISLAND FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL, New York, USA
September 17, 2004 Closing Night Film Jury Award - Best Film of the Festival

* 8TH FESTIVAL DE CINEMA- LISBON GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL
September 24, 2004

* SOUTHERN COMFORT CONFERENCE FILM FESTIVAL, Atlanta, USA
September 29 & September 30, 2004

* 2ND ANNUAL REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL, Toronto, CANADA
October 3, 2004 Through the Pink Looking Glass



* SEATTLE LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL, Seattle, WA, USA
October 16, 2004

* 3RD ANNUAL DALLAS SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL, North Dallas, USA
November 6, 2004

* Glasgay! SCOTLAND'S ANNUAL CELEBRATION QUEER CULTURE, Glasgow, UK
November 13, 2004

* 13TH LE FESTIVAL QUESTION DE GENRE– GAY KITSCHCAMP, Lille, FRANCE
December 1, 2004

* LGBT HISTORY MONTH – NAZ PROJECT, London, UK
February 2, 2005

* 13TH ANNUAL EMORY LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
April 2, 2005

* PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 2005 – ONE IN TEN FILM FESTIVAL, PA, USA
April 3 & April 5, 2005

* NIGAAH- SOUTH ASIAN QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, Chicago, Illinois, USA
April 8 & April 9, 2005

* GAYpril - QUEER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
April 20, 2005

* 9TH ANNUAL RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, USA
August 10, 2005

* BOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL, Prague, CHEZ REPUBLIC
October 15, 2005

* GLOBAL QUEER CINEMA FILM SCREENINGS, University of Iowa, Iowa, USA
Oct 20, 2005

* INDIA UNBOUND ! FILM SERIES, Washington DC, USA
September 14, 2005

* CICLO ROSA, Bogota, Medillin, COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA
August - September, 2006

* A MILLION DIFFERENT LOVES!?, Leipzig, GERMANY
October 28, 2006

* A MILLION DIFFERENT LOVES!?, Szczecin, Katowice, Wroclaw, Warsaw, Gdansk, Torun, Poznan, Krakow, Lodz, POLAND
October 2006 - January, 2007

* IN/VISIBLE IDENTITIES- Ethnocultural Day, Montreal, CANADA
May 5, 2007


* KATHMANDU INT. LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, Kathmandu, NEPAL
May 18-19 , 2007

* MAURITIUS INT. LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, MAURITIUS
May 25-June 2, 2007

* GOTEBORG INT. FILM FESTIVAL - Mini Filmfestival, Goteborg, GERMANY
June 2, 2007

* PAINTING THE SPECTRUM 3, SASOD, GUYANA
June 11, 2007

Slideshow

Production Notes

In Perspective

To begin with, making India's first film on drag queens was rather an unnerving task. What will the actors think… what will the unit think. How the crew, particularly the lightmen & runner boys will react to men dressed up as women and lusting after men! How will they react to a drag cabaret and a drag 'mujhra'. How will they react to a shower sequence!
And to a man eyeing the bum of a teenager!

Phew!

Location

When we were looking for a location to shoot in, we were rather queasy. Since we didn't have any budget, we asked around some of our friends. And we wanted to be truthful. Amazingly most of our friends were not very shocked by the film's subject. But they had reservations about men dressed as women moving in and out of their house. Anyways, we finally shot at a regular shooting location because it offered us more space and convenience.

Costumes

The first person who was shocked was our costume guy! We called him over with instructions that we wanted two dancers' costumes. When he came for measurements, we showed him the two male actors who were to perform the dance! He freaked out. He then had to get special sized costumes made (for our rather heavy-sized performers!). The costume guy also went and shopped for padded bras! The costume trials held in our office were hilarious.

Script readings

Script readings were a riot. The lead actors Ramesh and Edwin had to really camp it up and surely the people next to our office were scandalised! Being overtly enthusiastic, they even started rehearsing their dance steps in our small office space. Another spin off to the rehearsal was that the actor who was to play the stud in the film had to be changed. Casting for the role of the hunk, for whom two drag queens and a gay teenager lust for, was tough enough. Many of the television actors refused the role since they didn't want to be portrayed as a bisexual (image problems… or too close to the truth?!). One stud who agreed to do the role and said he was very comfortable with a role like this was totally dumbstruck when Ramesh and Edwin really camped it up. As per the scene requirement, they even had to get a little physical with him, which left the stud completely tongue-tied. When his turn for the dialogue came up, he was completely dumb-stuck. We of course had to drop him and opt for another actor!

Shoot

We were also quite uncertain how the shoot would go on the floors. Rehearsing in the office is one thing, but performing the same in front of a unit of 50 people is another. How will the unit react to a film like this? Mercifully the fears were rather ungrounded. The unit took to it as one more story - and a rather interesting one at that. They all agreed it was 'different'. And many of them came out with their own stories. Of how they knew one such person. How they have met drag queens, etc. They were surely amused, but not antagonistic. Which was a big relief.

As the shoot progressed, the unit even felt emotionally for the characters. Especially the rather ugly fight scene between the two drag queens where they dredge out each other's personal lives ruthlessly. There was a stunned silence as some of the really sluttish dialogues were enacted - "Bibbo: You sleep with every Tom-Dick & Harry!
Shabbo: Slut, you only roll with stars! Be it dancers or extras, you've tried them all. At this age, can't hook anyone so grapes are sour! Bibbo: Grapes or shriveled raisins you still have your fill!" - The light boys and the spot boys were dumb-stuck!

When we shot the 'mujhra' (an Indian classical dance), people gathered from nearby bunglows too to watch this amazingly graceful man perform as a sensuous woman. The location attendant, an old woman, was the most touched of all. She even had tears when we packed up the shoot. She said it was the most unusual shooting she had witnessed. She also insisted we take a picture of her with the unit, because she felt it was the best unit she had worked with.

Art

These were our experiences as far as people's reaction were concerned. As for production detailing, with our shoestring budget… and the shoes were baby-sized! We had to enlist the help of a lot of our friends once again. A well-known Bollywood costume designer lent us a lot of his dancers' costumes with all glitter and sequins. He also gave us a gold cloth of 50 metres that our art director used creatively to make a Queen's Boudoir! Another 35 metre cloth of red lace was given with explicit instruction not to cut it and it took quite a lot of ingenuity on part of the art director to drape it as a mosquito net above the Queen's bed. And that really added to the camp character of a queen's bedroom.

Our executive producer chipped in with transport facilities as well as getting the party crowd for the cabaret. (Not many would dare participate in a shoot where they will be seduced by a drag queen!)

Post

Post-production was another experience. The editor was asked to edit the gay seduction scenes as if he was editing a heterosexual one. He had to also edit the shower sequence with a male-gaze point of view! The music director was in a dilemma - the drag queens are men acting as woman. Are their emotions masculine or feminine or a mix of both?! Finding the right instruments for the characters as well as a fusion of Indian and western themes was a skilful task which he handled adeptly.

Finally...

To sum it all up, what sounded like a mountain actually turned out to be a molehill. A rather uphill journey was surprisingly navigated smoothly; mainly thanks to all those who offered their support, co-operation and help. And some who even chipped in with monetary support.

Project 'The Pink Mirror' couldn't have been rosier!

~ Saagar Gupta

Director's Note

In Perspective

In Hollywood, from Dustin Hoffman starrer Tootsie (1982, USA) to Victor-Victoria, Mrs.Doubtfire, The Cockettes and Wigstock (1994, USA) there have been some really sensitive and honest attempts to capture the spirit & saga of Drag on celluloid. Not to forget the inimitable Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Bird Cage.

In India, the concept of men dressing up and performing as women has been prevalent from ancient times and these men were treated with dignity & respect. Earlier Indian films even had men performing as women because women were not allowed to act in films.
But later, it was more for fun - most of the top Bollywood stars have been in drag! Right from the 60's chocolate hero- Bishwajeet (in the song "Reshmi Salwar Kurta Jaali ka…" from Kismat) and 70's chocolate boy Rishi Kapoor (in Rafoo Chakkar along with Paintal) to 90's chocolate boy- Amair Khan (in Baazi) and Kamal Hassan (in Chachi 420), and not to forget, even the star of millennium- Amitabh Bachhan (in the song "Mere Agane mein…" from Lawaris)… most of the Bollywood heroes have performed in drag.

But in recent times, in Bollywood, the concept of drag has been reduced to a caricature - mainly for dramatic convenience or for crude comedy.

Mercifully there have been a couple of poignant portrayals too - not of drag queens, but of Hijras (Paresh Rawal in Tamanna and Sayyaji Shinde in Darmiyaan). Only one true Maharani (Drag Queen) stands out - Sadashiv Amrapurkar in Sadak, but as a negative character.

That apart, there has also been a few attempts at producing gay films (the short and sweet 'BomGay', the touching 'Summer in My Veins' and the yet to be released 'Mango Souffle'), which are all in English. But there has not been a single film that spoke about the drag queens in their own language - Hindi.

Gulabi Aaina (The Pink Mirror) is the first Hindi narrative film about Indian drag queens.

How the film evolved

Having interacted with the most wonderful gay men and seen some really sizzling performances of drag queens in Bombay, Bangalore and Delhi, I was really eager to make a film that reflects their true feelings.

A film that has drag queens as its protagonist and not just as yet another character. A film that would delve deep into their hearts and unearth emotions that have been closeted till date.

A film that would be true.

That's how the 'The Pink Mirror' script evolved. A slice-of-life story about two Indian drag queens - their laughter, tears, passion and pathos. A riotous spicy mix of dance, drama and desire! Bollywood recipe served with sensitivity!

Though the outline of the film was written over a year ago, I could find no producer to back it. Nobody wanted to produce a short film on a taboo subject. Finally I had to produce it under my own company banner as an indie film. And I am happy I did so, because I could work without any external forces that would hamper creative decisions. Every call on every detailing was my very own.

Critical creative decisions

One of the most crucial decision was casting. I knew Ramesh and Edwin, two fine performers who had worked with me on earlier projects. I could trust them to do full justice to the characters and I think my trust has been well-founded. They have done an amazing job. Rishi breezed into the office one day (on a friends' recommendation) and I felt he fitted Mandy's role to the tee. (Though I had Rishi's picture on my comp since months, I had never considered him. Now he looked so different in person. One more lesson learnt - always meet an actor face-to-face!). He brought out the shy, innocent western gay so well.

The next creative effort was to create a Queen's boudoir, a space that every drag queen would identify with… a house that every drag queen would want to live in. Gold, lace, glitter, shimmer… and of course the Pink Mirror. The Pink Mirror symbolised the confidante. A queen spends most of her time in front of a mirror that is witness to her tears, laughter, passion and pathos. And in the film most of the important dramatic sequences are played out in front of this mirror.

In Context

I was quite clear that I didn't want to make a melodramatic film that would be preachy. I wanted a film that the queens themselves would enjoy as their own film. Of course I also want it to be acceptable to a wider audience (read non-gay).
It was a fine-line. I wanted them to laugh with the characters, not laugh at them.

I hope I have succeeded… in speaking a universal language.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. And my mind open…to the brickbats and (hopefully) bouquets.

~ Sridhar Rangayan

Film Details

Synopsis

Men bring out the best in queens… and sometimes the worst !

A unique film coming from India where homosexuality is still taboo, The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina), is a colorful funny look into the Indian homosexual closet.

It pits two Indian drag queens against a westernized gay teenager in a battle to woo a handsome hunk. It's a clash of the east and west. Who will win? The drag queens who are expert in the art of seduction with their wit, innuendo and cunning or the young teenager who is saucy, slutty and sly?

The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina) is a mute witness to their happiness, jealousies, passion and anguish.

Underneath the campy humorous exterior, the film is an exploration of the Indian gay landscape and understanding of the deep, humanly tender bondings that exist between drag queens in India who form unique, non-patriarchal families..

Using the Bollywood soap idiom of song, dance and drama and for the first time in the Indian drag queens' very own language, Hindi, the film also explores other veiled issues related to the Indian gay community: the lurking threat of HIV/AIDS.

Cast & Crew

Shabbo : Edwin Fernandes
Bibbo: Ramesh Menon
Mandy: Rishi Raj
Samir: Rufy Baqal
Friend: Deepak Sonavane

Dialogues: Saagar Gupta
Production Controller: Atul Chavre
Executive Producer: Vivek Anand
Technical Consultant: Abhijeet Rao
Audiographer: Santosh Sawant
Art Director: Saagar Gupta
Editor: Ajay Paralkar
Background Score: Aashish Rego
Cinematographer: Deepak Pandey

Producers:
Sridhar Rangayan / Saagar Gupta

Story, Screenplay & Direction:
Sridhar Rangayan

Production House: Solaris Pictures