"Sex–ed classes ka kya faiyda jab attitude hi itna old school hai," a young boy shrugs while his friends sit around discussing their closely monitored lives in the new film, Time Out, which was released in theatres recently.
The film’s director Rikhil Bahadur sheds light on the subject: “In schools, students are told how they need to sit, walk and talk. We want teenagers to question as to why they cannot make their own decisions. The film touches upon homosexuality but not in a dark way. It compels viewers to ponder what would be their reaction if tomorrow they come to know that their friend is gay. Especially when that person is someone you have grown up idolising for 14 years. I have not tried to make a preachy sort of film but something that youth can relate to.”
Time Out was first made in 2011 as a 12-minute short film which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It then travelled to 25 film festivals and gave Rikhil the idea to convert it into a full-length feature. Addressing issues that concern teenagers, the film is an attempt to bridge the generation gap that keeps parents away from having a healthy téte-a-tete with their children.
But how many films are made that address the concerns of young adults? The division is quite clear. There are mainstream Hindi films families go to watch together and there are children’s films no one goes to because adults are too busy to take their young ones. Where does that leave young adults who want to watch a film about themselves?
With plenty of examples among non-Hindi films to show the way, the change began five years ago for mainstream Hindi cinema when the 17-year-old protagonist of Udaan (2010) is expelled from school for watching an adult film.
In Bubblegum (2011), a 14-year-old boy has his first crush on a girl and the film builds on it. It’s a light, comic film centred on the age when youngsters are moving from childhood into puberty – one of the very few films capturing their spirit; adolescents who do not want to be treated as kids.
Two year later, Sixteen (2013), a film about four students, all reaching the ripe age of consent, dealt with similar themes about youngsters caught in their web of love and lust.
Time Out takes it one step further by introducing one of the lead characters in the film as a gay young man. It is a small step, but also a giant leap for Hindi cinema with sex and sexual orientation among young adults being introduced without making a mockery of it.
What does a young boy do when he finds out his elder brother is gay? How do his "liberal" parents react? The father raves and rants. The mother looks for a cure on Google. It is a world that is falling apart, and that's when the youngsters begin to support each other. When families fail them.
It's significant that a big studio, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, decided to back this film. Baby steps, if you like.
