Cheap Thrills

February is the season of film award functions. I watched almost all of the BAFTA awards, and the last (and most exciting) part of the Oscars. The BAFTA ceremony was businesslike and neat. The host's humour was inoffensive and he didn't talk too much. Bollywood's Star Screen Awards were disturbing. The chief host Sajid Khan dressed in drag, and made continual references to the movie Dostana in which John Abraham and Abhishek Bachhan pretend to be gay.

I couldn't understand this obsession with gay sex and how it could be a source of amusement and/or titillation. Where does it fit into a film awards function,of all things?

While flicking channels, I found last year's Filmfare Awards were on. The 'King' Khan Shahrukh and his co-host, Saif Ali Khan, were doing a comic act. The main theme of the show was the supposed humour in a situation where 'macho' guys like them are mistaken for a gay couple in a movie they did a few years ago. So what Shahrukh did last year became a model for a 'lesser Khan' like Sajid to copy this year.

It's bad enough that there are movies that exploit the theme of homosexuality, and get a 'U' certificate from the censor board. Entertainment channels on television are watched by children of all ages. Should sensitive and confusing subjects like sexual orientation be treated as a source of crass humour and titillation? Saif Ali Khan and ShahRukh Khan are both fathers of teen or pre-teen children. Guess we should ask them.