CBFC clears ‘coming out’ gay Indian film

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared ‘Evening Shadows’, a film about a mother-son relationship, where the son comes out about his sexuality, before the father finalizes an arranged marriage. The CBFC has given it an U/A certificate, with no cuts.

Mirror reports that the CBFC has asked for one minor change only. The director and co-producer Sridhar Rangayan revealed, “All the members present at the censor screening loved the film and only requested I replace the word ‘hijra’ in a scene with ‘kinnar’ as it is most respectful to the community. They were unsure about the certification because going by the rule book, anything that deals with homosexuality gets an ‘A’. But I reasoned that mine is a mainstream Indian film, not urban multiplex or a niche documentary targeting the intelligentsia. And it is important for it to have a wider TV and theatrical release, reach out to families, as the attempt is to change mind-sets. Empathizing with me, the censors cleared it with a ‘U/A’ certificate.”

The film stars Ananth Mahadevan, Mona Ambegaonkar, and Arpit Chaudhary.