Pathaan: Onir says 'I don't like' Besharam Rang after slamming trolls targeting Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone's song

One of the most popular filmmakers Onir Dhar, who broke new ground in LGBTQ representation with his directorial debut 'My brother... Nikhil', said that he himself doesn't like Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan's Besharam Rang song.

He is not quite sure why his talk at the Bhopal literary fest was cancelled at the last minute, but he asserted that he wouldn't do anything to fit into other people's brackets and continue to wear his identity with pride. Dhar rued the lack of support from his industry colleagues on the matter.  As per PTI, he stated, "someone asked me if this (talk cancellation) was a repercussion of my tweet on the controversy over Besharam song from Pathaan. I don't like the song, but I will speak up for something that is wrong. I don't see my colleagues commenting. I have had a few people inboxing me, and I am like... Your love in the inbox means nothing,if you cannot come out and stand by me out in the open."

For the unversed, in December when Deepika Padukone's song Besharam song was released, Onir slammed a Twitter user who sammed the song. The person tweeted, "What kind of a husband allows or tolerates public molestation of his wife for a few bucks? Just asking !!!"

Onir reacted and said, "Yucks .., sick mentality . Use of words like ‘allows’, ' tolerate” shows that he belongs to that tribe of men who thinks an husband owns the women. And only a vulgar mindset could make a montage like this. Retired and now nothing better to do than zoom in pics n spread hate."

The director, who was here to participate in Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, noted that people in India still struggle to talk about their identities, even when they are in empowered positions. Dhar, who documented his journey from Bhutan to Kolkata and then Germany and Mumbai in his memoir 'I am Onir and I am Gay', said, "While growing up, I did not know the word for the longest time. There were no references of my life in films, literature, advertisements or science. I felt the need to put it out there somewhere. I have had people click pictures of the book at airports and bookstores to say that I make them feel proud about themselves."

Dhar, however, clarified the book, co-authored with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, isn't just about his sexuality but talks about his childhood, his experiences as a filmmaker, and the challenges he encountered while making movies. My sister had once taken me to a film festival in Kolkata's Ice Skating Rink, where I watched 'Charulata' and 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'. Consciously or subconsciously, I had then decided that I wanted to make films," he said.  (With inputs from PTI)

READ | Pathaan: Asha Parekh says 'let them remove' Besharam Rang for film's 'smooth release', calls it 'height of bullying'