The film is about a gay person being surprised by his folks when they accept him and his partner after he tells them about his sexual orientation: Anand Gokhale
For the first time, a Marathi short film, Pudhakar – Ek Paaul (Initiative – A Step) made by two queer Mumbaiites, Anand Gokhale and Prachi Kathale, will be screened at the Delhi International Queer Theatre and Film Festival (DIQTFF) in Delhi today.
The short film’s plot revolves around the theme of acceptance of LGBTQ members by their peers. Speaking about the film, Gokhale said, “The film is about a gay being surprised by his folks when they accept him and his partner after he tells them about his sexual orientation. Pudhakar means initiative. It indicates that a gay child should take the initiative to open himself (come out of the closet) in front of his parents without any fear.”
Speaking about his own journey of self acceptance and being accepted by his peers, he said, “I realized I was attracted to men at the age of 15 and until last year when my mother asked me if I was gay, I hid it from the world. Surprisingly, she accepted me without much ado. That was my inspiration to make the film.”
Interestingly, Gokhale’s mother, Sushama Gokhale has also acted in the film. Sharing her views about the film and her experience of acting in the film, Sushama said, “I believe that parents should support their children. I didn’t know much about the LGBTQ community, however, I am happy that I understood about it. I wanted other parents also to understand about the community and hence, I shared my support towards the film by acting in it.”
The 26-year-old independent film-maker, Kathale, who belongs to a middle-class Maharashtrian family explained why the film was made in Marathi. He said, “My parents have accepted me and we wanted our apprehensions to be addressed to the Marathi community as well.”
The film has also been selected as a finalist in the Chennai Queer Film Festival. Speaking about their future plans for the film, Kathale said, “Our main motive is to win the Kashish Film Festival in Mumbai. It will give us a platform to reach out to more people.”
Love Matters in association with Harmless Hugs is organising the second edition of the DIQTFF. “LGBT rights is a core area of our work and through events such as this film festival we aim to call out to the community at large to come together in support of equality for all and raise their concern against homophobia,”said Vithika Yadav, Country Head, Love Matters India.
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 "Pudhakar - Ek Paul")
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