The most evident effect of corporate capitalism in Bollywood is that every commercially successful venture from the past or an idea that may have worked some 20 years ago, is being revamped to generate a quick buck for the makers.
Let aside the fact, that the times have certainly changed and the audiences is not really as accepting of formulaic potboilers as it was some 2 decades ago.
With the ongoing discussion about Kartik Aaryan’s exit from Dharma Production’s Dostana 2, amid allegations of nepotism and favouritism, one significant topic that people seem to be missing out on is – do we even need a sequel to a film that perpetuated stereotypical images of gay men and served them as ‘comic reliefs’ to the masses?
Hasn’t Indian cinema come of age in the past couple of years, with films showcasing a different, more realistic side of the LGBTQ community, without using them for creating characters that can be objectified for slapstick laughter?
So why, in this day and age, do we need a film like Dostana 2 – assuming, it may as well follow the lead of the original flick from 2008, which featured both Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, pulling off the most ridiculous stereotypes for sleazy comic punches?
What would be even more interesting to see is – whether the Indian audience would accept this film now, as the stigma around same-sex love has been lifted to some extent in a society, which previously thought there had to be something funny about two men falling in love with each other.
We really don’t need another set of mainstream comic caricatures of gay characters, ridiculing them any more than they already are, in the masses.
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Let us hope the makers prove us wrong, because it would be an abomination to witness a recreation of the cultural disaster that was the first part, perpetuating and curating means of further homophobia and bullying for the gay youth of our country.
If that is the route they’re heading in, we really don’t need a Dostana 2.
What do you think?