NEW DELHI – A critically-acclaimed Indian filmmaker Onir’s new film, We Are, was blocked by the country’s army as his script was about a romantic relationship between a gay soldier and a boy.
Onir’s script comprises four stories related to a trans woman, a lesbian, a bisexual man, and a fictitious account of the love between a gay officer and a Kashmiri boy.
The gay character in the film is inspired by the Indian army’s former Major J. Suresh, who resigned from the post in 2020, admitting that he was a ‘proud gay’.
Onir, who used to make movies to highlight issues of society’s marginalised groups, told the media that it is the law to take No-Objection Certificate from army if there is anything related to forces.
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The film director said that he in December 2021 applied for the NOC but it was rejected stating that portrayal of the army man as gay is illegal.
Onir while talking to international media pointed out that movies where officers express love to women, were never rejected.
In 2018, the Supreme Court had legalised gay sex in the country, but both homosexuality and adultery remain punishable offenses under the Indian Army Act.
