Dangerous poster reactions: Once hailed as one of India's most groundbreaking filmmakers, with films like Satya and Rangeela, Ram Gopal Varma's vision seems to have gone somewhat astray. At least that's what the current mood on the internet seems to suggest.
Taking to social media Wednesday, Varma, popularly known by his initials RGV, shared the poster of "India's first lesbian crime/action film" Dangerous: A Killer Affair, announcing its trailer release on May 13. "Gentle reminder to all moralists, section 377 has been repealed by the honourable Supreme Court of India," he wrote alongside a closeup shot of the leads Naina Ganguly and Apsara Rani on the poster.
Any queer-inclusive messaging his first announcement contained came severely undone with how he described Dangerous in his follow-up tweet.
"DANGEROUS is about 2 women who because of bad experiences with men, passionately fall in love with each other..."
Dangerous Poster Reactions Range From Shock To Outrage
Any support Varma's loyalists may be showing him for Dangerous has been largely overshadowed by the severe criticism the posters have attracted from the queer community. Simultaneous with the "fetishisation" of lesbianism on the posters, Varma's synopsis has been slammed as "deeply offensive" and "uninformed."
Dangerous dangerously stands on the edge of false and faulty representation of lesbians.
"The film description of Dangerous suggests that it is about two women who fall in love with each other because of their bad experiences with men... it belittles once again the entire idea of homosexuality and queer relationships and the purity in their love," Nikita Mondal, a 21-year-old lesbian tells SheThePeople. "The posters as well suggest the intensity that the two women share in the movie but it's important to let out that queer love is more than just the physical intimacy and lust."
Representation has long been a concern among the queer community, with the lack of it acting as a tool for oppression in society. On film, especially in Bollywood, queer activists have noted the skewered narratives for years.
"Somehow all of the posters of the film shows women kissing each other or wild pictures of their intimacy, I hope the film will show that queer relationships are more than just an outburst of lust and won't be all about the satisfaction of some weird male fetish of watching women together," Ayusmita Chatterjee, who identifies as pansexual, tells us.
Notwithstanding the suspiciously male-gazed representation on the poster, the way the film has been marketed seems to be inherently wrong.
"Going by the name of the movie and its description, the movie I feel, is trying to suggest that homosexuality- women falling for women is not independent of the men and that's where I feel the film is likely to falter," Ankit Tiwari, journalist, who identifies as bisexual, tells SheThePeople.
Here is what the Dangerous poster reactions look like on Twitter:
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