A short video film exploring urban sexuality in the Indian metro cities of Bangalore and Kolkata has caught the attention of Japanese Public Broadcaster, NHK.
BANGALORE: A short video film exploring urban sexuality in the Indian metro cities of Bangalore and Kolkata has caught the attention of Japanese Public Broadcaster, NHK, which is scheduled to air the film in Japan in September.
The 30-minute film made by the young duo Bharat Murthy and Alka Singh, alumni of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, has aroused the interest of NHK which is keen to know the changes that globalisation has effected on lifestyle and inter-personal relationships among the urban youth.
"We chose the cities of Bangalore and Kolkata as response of urban youth to globalisation in these two metros is very different", said Bharat, who was the assistant director for the hit slapstick comedy Bheja Fry.
In Bangalore, one witnesses an overdose of consumer culture brought in by advertising blitzkrieg, both in print and audio visuals. The youth enamoured by the ads splurges for upmarket brands, be it clothes or accessories, he said.
The youngsters in the city, which has become a call centre hub, "are sucked into MNC culture of making fast bucks and letting their hair down, unmindful of their roots and culture", laments Murthy.
Echoing similar thoughts, Dr M J Thomas, a leading psychiatrist and counsellor of the city felt, the youth who work in close proximity during late hours in BPOs "are not only given to permissive behaviour but are also doing drugs and consuming alcohol, which needs to be monitored and curbed".
The youth in Bangalore want to live life in the fast lane and are "ready to do anything for it", said Alka who has made documentaries for Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) and also has a Bengali telefilm Star Cafe to her credit.
"There is a certain hollowness and artificiality even in inter-personal relationships, with each trying to be one-up. This, I suppose also stems from young girls being financially independent and in some cases drawing higher salaries than boys", she said.
The relationships in most cases border on being just physical with no mental involvement, the duo felt. "Even when they have sex it is just for the heck of it and because it is in rather than for pure pleasure", they said.
Dr Vivek Benegal, who heads the De-addiction Centre in NIMHANS, also feels inter-personal relationships among the urban youth in Bangalore is "superficial, with no depth or substance".
"Even in the physical openness, there is a repression which results from highly-stressed environment", he said.
In fact, according to Ian Faria, a much sought-after counsellor in Bangalore, "relationships among the youth break up very fast and are short-lived leading to a lot of depression in them".
"Because of lack of commitment, there is sense of betrayal on both sides", he says, adding there is a sense of insecurity among the youth which needs to be understood by the family members.
As far as pornography is concerned, Bharat and Alka found most youth in Bangalore are for porn. However, the number of girls watching pornography, easily accessible though the net, is far less than boys.
The scenario in Kolkata however, is interestingly very different, says Bharat.
Though under colonial rule for many years, Kolkotans are still bound by strong cultural roots.
Consumerism has still not invaded the lives of the youth, "who are happy and contented with their "addas" (meeting joints) and still find a boat ride on the river Hoogly, romantic", he said.
Thomas who has travelled extensively feels the urban youth in Kolkata have "their priorities right, are more focused, involved and less superficial".
"Many of them, still, are not for pre-marital sex and feel serious involvement is necessary. Perhaps it also has to do with the life there which is much slowly paced compared to Bangalore", he said.
The percentage of youth who watch porn in Kolkata is much less compared to those in Bangalore, said Alka.
While the film is "not a survey or a judgement passed on the urban youth in the two metros, it definitely offers a peek-a-boo into their mindset", say the duo.
The film made on a small budget of Rs 11 lakh is scheduled to be aired in Japan in September.
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