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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media

Neetu Chandra is in hot water for "promoting lesbianism"

Indian actress Neetu Chandra caused quite a scene during a recent photo shoot for The Man magazine. The shoot, which took place outside a hotel lobby in the Mumbai suburb of Juhu was apparently so scandalous, it led to a group of male onlookers screaming obscenities and even physically harming some members of the magazine's crew.

What was so outraging? Well, of course, it was a girl-on-girl photo shoot. The actress and model Krishikha Gupta was scantily clad in bikinis, posing for a cover of the magazine's June issue, which is nothing many American's haven't seen before.

However, the onlookers felt the shoot was "promoting lesbianism." Sounds to me like they were just jealous. Either way, they disturbed things enough that the shoot had to be cancelled.

In a statement to the media, as reported in the Hindustan Times, the Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! star said:

Though the concept about two girls getting very intimate was a bit outrageous, we were doing it very aesthetically. But these men were a frustrated lot and couldn't take the heat. They only saw nudity ... The whole group of men suddenly started feeling ignored and began creating a scene. They did manage to scare me when they started to politicize the issue and scream communal slogans. That was when we had to stop the shoot.

While the shoot ended abruptly, they magazine was apparently able to get enough photos before things got out of hand, and plan to go ahead with the issue, which will be on stands next week. Which, I'm sure, most of those men will still buy.

Marta Perenna's picture

F*ck you guys!

I hate those men! FTW!!! How dare they to interrupt the miracle of nature that is scorching hot lesbian innuendo!!

And how dare they to harm and assault somebody over a view of flesh! I cannot believe this hypocrisy and misogyny. And what is wrong with them, don't all hetero men actually LOVE promotion of lesbianism? Are men in India that afraid of women even insinuating the slightest bit of their own pleasure and that they don't need men for everything?

Arrgghhh I hate those guys so much right now! *yells like in the Kelly song*

Along with other horrible stuff they do in India to women :(

 

// those harper seals are biaaatchesss - Bridget McManus //

 

ClaireA's picture

  "How dare they to

  "How dare they to interrupt the miracle of nature that is scorching hot lesbian innuendo!!"

 

Ha ha! 

Michie87's picture

totally out of topic

Awesome Headphones!!! \,,,/

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Let it Rock,Let it roll

Amaya's picture

Lesbianism is actually

Lesbianism is actually quite Taboo in India... Dunno if you've seen the interview about "I can't think straight" but the director/writer had sooooo much trouble finding an Indian actress from bollywood that would even accept to peck an other girl on the lips for fear of ruinning her career. Crazy.

~* Sunt îngeraşul tau, dar tu eşti îngerul meu *~

shortypants's picture

This is ridiculous>>

 

but that first picture is my new desktop, so thanks! :0)

And the song 'Caught Out There' with the bridge 'I hate you so much right now!' is by Kelis not Kelly.

Marta Perenna's picture

Aaaahh Kelis! Of course!

Aaaahh Kelis! Of course! Sorry I am so bad with names.. and you are so right, shortypants! Thanks for the correction!

// those harper seals are biaaatchesss - Bridget McManus //

 

Anonymous's picture

Bruised Male Egos

I won't be yelling obscenties. Only shout outs. I rarely know what kind of things goes on in other countries besides ours  pertaining to lgbtqi community.

They'll get over their bruised male egos! As long the models were safe and the crew ok,I don't care..

Marta Perenna's picture

ugh if only those bruised

ugh if only those bruised male egos didn't bruise everyone else physically and emotionally!

I hope their willies wither and their butts grow together as to teach them a much needed lesson for infesting more violence onto this battered world.

// those harper seals are biaaatchesss - Bridget McManus //

 

Anonymous's picture

I Agree

I agree. 

linzii 's picture

.

oh helloooo! ;D 

 

 

----

http://youtube.com/tenthingsqueer

 

[:

xxtaoxx's picture

It will take time......

pertaining to the male on lookers that were outraged, that kind of behavior will diminish. There are a lot of insecure and discriminate people in this world, by behaving the way that they did, they are only hating a part of themselves essentially. I would respond to the incident by acknowledging that it occurred but in no way shall I allow it to harbor within myself. Because then I would just be like them. 
Jeannette's picture

Nice.

Very good response to a frustrating story.  I don't know if I'm strong enough, but I'm going to try to take that stance more often. :) Thanks

 

rainbowshy's picture

yeah i should think that

yeah i should think that way more often. everybody should. instead of everyone yelling at each other all the time we should just....yeah xxxTAOxxx said it better.
The Ki's picture

Welcome to the middle and far east.

  People still don't seem to understand how utterly hated homosexuality is in the middle and far east.  We get terribly upset at a beauty queen for not agreeing with gay marriage.  On the other side of the world, we would be beaten in the streets for having a smooch with our girlfriend.

 

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Hate me because I'm with your girlfriend." -The Ki

laura.g's picture

Beaten...

...is the best case scenario in many of these countries - murdered is a likely outcome.
sgrace's picture

India is not part of the

India is not part of the middle east (which is primarily Muslim), and it is only part of the far east if you stretch the definition to include South Asia as well as East Asia. And you make a pretty big generalisation - I completely agree that many countries in these regions are rife with human rights abuses, yet in a lot of ways India is incredibly Westernised, and the Westernisation of sexuality has actually resulted in a lot of repression. The enjoyment of all different kinds of sexuality was culturally acceptable in India for centuries, and Western orientalism and an association of the non-West with sexual licentiousness resulted in a shift in the boundaries of the culturally acceptable. I absolutely don't condone the misogynistic and homophobic attitudes that prevail in India, but I don't think it's fair to act like every non-Western country is the same. They have specific problems that need to be addressed with some sort of consciousness of the culture that has produced them.

And we should get upset with a beauty queen making a statement against gay marriage (especially considering where she did it), just like we should get upset about homophobia and human rights abuses around the world, not matter who they are perpetuated by. In fact, I don't understand what the"beauty queen" has to do with this - they're seperate issues, worthy of discussion in their own right, but we shouldn't stop fighting for our rights in the West just because there's more to be done elsewhere.

Shana's picture

wow, thank you so much for

wow, thank you so much for writing this. i'm bookmarking it. i really needed to read someone talk about india and sexuality and westernization this coherently.
Painterly's picture

Great response

We Americans can use this as a tool to look at ourselves a bit more, and from all of the responses I've read, we are reveling in our rights to react...how beautiful that we are ahead of the game.  We are blessed.  United we stand...

Knowledge is Power.  Believe in yourself.

NewHorizons 's picture

I don't think you can

I don't think you can compare India to the middle east. India is the home of the Kama Sutra and numerous same sex couple statues outside temples and was quite liberal before when it came to sexuality.

We have our own incidents of violence as well for example the Mathew Shepherd incident and numerous hate crimes towards people who fit in. Actually, one of India's past beauty queens, unlike Miss Ca, actually came out in support of gay rights and is funding the only gay magazine in the country. So generalizing really isn't fair. Even straight couples get harassed by the police and same sex couples are allowed more affection than straight ones are.

India though conservative and homophobic is certainly changing. It's only been 60 odd years since Indpendence and already there has been at least 1 movie which has looked at gay relationships in a fair manner. So let's not stereotype and let a bunch of fundamentalists make us generalize about a whole country.

Ali's picture

Awww

they are jealous. Well too f***ing bad.
Nona J.'s picture

F***

F**k what more do they want? It is called the Man Magazine. What's wrong with promoting Lesbianism, anyway? The boys need to realize that not all girls want men to be involved. The boys threw a big enough temper tantrum they were willing to hurt people. Please get over yourselves.

" True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united" ~ Wilhelm von Humbolt

Eternal Frisson!'s picture

an indianised take on it!

This mentality of Indian men makes me sick! Such hypocrites!

These bunch of idiots are the ones who light their lampost looking at these sensuous  pictures and then go disrupt the shoots! Urgh! Frustrating!

Since this shoot was happening in Mumbai, i believe it was mostly the local goons belonging to a political party Shiv Sena....who never do or let anything productive from happening and ought to be banned for their extremism. (Ah! i gotta give credit for this insight to a friend!) 

But then its not only about the Shiv Sena people, the mentality of most straight Indian men is the same, I've had guy friends who admitted they'd love to watch 2 lesbians making out but will not accept it, if their lover turned out to be a lesbian or bi or generally making out with another girl. Such double standards! 

I am just so pissed off with these people! 

 

 

 

Discoveries's picture

I agree Bliss!

These Indian men are frustrated hypocrites who want to sleep with those two women and know they can never touch them. "stop the shoot" only translates into "stop the torment of showing us two sexy women who we cannot touch!"

These men are sexually repressed creeps. They are the same genre of male chauvinism that is seen in women being beaten up in city pubs in India and couples getting arrested for holding hands in parks. They are the eve teasers on the roads, they are the ones who will pinch the women in a crowd. They use religion and moral ethics as a way to justify their objections. 

I agree with an earlier post that generalizations should not be made. There are indeed open-minded men in India. Unfortunately, the men who stopped this shoot are in the majority and that is not a generalization.

Brutal_Romance's picture

I say

I say, that was pretty daring for a bollywood star.

I know things are opening up in India, but we still cant ignore the fact that its a traditional country with very traditional values.

I'm sure if this spread even more, women would have been joining the rallies against this, not because of a bruised male ego, but because of complete disregard of cultural values.

in another case, this can be argued as lesbianism used for the benefit and sole pleasure of men, you know, since the mag is called The Man. again, conflicting diverse opinions, we cant really ignore.

weluvannatorv's picture

Neetu is gorgeous!

I'll admit that I don't know much about the Indian culture, but I think Indian women r beautiful. I recently watched a movie about an Indian lesbian, done by an Indian lesbian who does documentaries. Forgive me that I can't recall her name. But the movie is beautiful. The title is Nina's Heavenly Delights, & stars Shelley Conn, who played a bi-sexual role in Mistresses. She is gorgeous also.

I wish I would have been there to watch that shoot. Definitely would have had to take a cold shower after that. Anyone know where I can get a copy of that mag?

SapphicDay's picture

Lesbianism is actually quite Taboo in India...

True but it is also quite common, or so I hear from my friends from India.
Moonstruck's picture

India and Homosexuality

Being from India and having spent a year in America i can defintely feel the cultural difference as well as the difference in the approach towards homosexuality. Even though India is the largest democracy in the world it is only so in theory. People don't have a right to be themselves and if they try, other people can't mind their own business and have to butt in.

I love India but i do agree that sometimes people just blow things out of proportion to get attention. If Neetu Chandra wants to promote lesbianism, it's her own wish. Whatever happened to freedom of speech, freedom of action and just the freedom to be ourselves. I agree homosexuality is not common in India and when people see things openly they get uncomfortable. When i was in India i had no gay friends and it took me all the courage i had to come out to my mom, sister and best friend. Here in LA i have only gay friends and its a relief because i don't have to bother about weighing my words and being someone i'm not. 

I did not mean to digress from the topic. I do not condone the attitude and reaction of the men but i do understand where they are coming from. Having grown up in India and been exposed to religion in its purest and harshest form i know that the acutely religious people see homosexuality as a sin. In America men would be drooling at a photoshoot with girl on girl action. Not in India!

Contrary to what someone just said about lesbianism being common in India, it is not. There are a few off cases but in 26 years of my life spent in India i have not personally come across any out lesbians. I am one and could only come out to my family and best friend and then was told to keep my mouth shut. 

The problem is that people care more about their reputation in the society which is basically made of people who don't give a f%$# about them. That's the irony of the whole situation. It's high time someone takes a stand and does something to educate the people about homosexuality in India. I'm not saying we need a Harvey Milk to change the system but awareness needs to be created in the minds of people so that they can look at us as one of them and not just outcasts and sinners. 

 

zephyr's picture

Is Neetu between a rock and a hard place?

Perhaps her martial arts background gave her the confidence to attempt the controversial photo shoot, but now she seems to be backtracking because of all the attention.  Neetu Chandra said the photo shoot was based on cave sculptures of women.  I think her comments speak volumes about the heat she is receiving and the effect it may have on her career.  On the one hand the public seems to be eating up this story, and on the other hand so many are calling the shoot outrageous.  It's a two-faced doubled standard LGBT issues face everywhere, not just in India.

http://bollywood.rightcelebrity.com/?p=1153

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bollywood/Neetu-clarifies-the-MNS-controversy-/articleshow/4569128.cms

 

Michie87's picture

bruised egos it is

I think they let their own frustration show alright, it got to them the fact that if they cant get it then no one should ey?. Selfish. 

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Let it Rock,Let it roll

Low-Ren-Zo.'s picture

i'm not surprised.

what i'm surprised about is that they even had that photoshoot over there in the first place. I don't know a lot about the middle east, but i know they're superstrict on stuff like that, and for them, even a few people, to agree to such a photoshoot...while it is objectifying, it's  a step forward as showing that it IS, in fact, a possibility. So kudos for the (hotsexy fine-ass) photoshoot; sucks about the guy gettin in another guy's ass over the photoshoot, and i'll be lookin for that magazine online at work this week. 

___   __ _____ __ _____ _ ___ _ ____ _

I dangled my participle in her fragment and stretched it into a run-on.

Adrenaline Rush: Badasses with Hearts of Gold and Other Honorable Traits TooAlsoAsWell-slash-Suavee. <

zephyr's picture

South Asia

The shoot was in Mumbai, India, which is in South Asia.  India isn't considered part of the Middle East as far as I've heard.

What always seems to be the case though is that the people who scream the loudest about hating LGBT's pretty much have a standard practice of engaging in it clandestinely.

Rachel JW's picture

Promoting lesbianism

I say go for it.. the recruiting has officially taken place. And I must say, it I wasn't already I sure would be a lesbian after those pictures. Mm hmm

-Rachel

http://www.kissthegirl09.webs.com

Wondergirrl's picture

They were just jealous

Because they couldn't join the girls :D

 

"I believe that I will be with one person for the rest of my life, but that person will be a woman." Luce-Imagine Me&You

Radio Girl's picture

Stunning Pictures

OMG... the pictures are so hot and beautiful in every positive way possible... so awesome!!
Alisha 's picture

I like how a lot more Indian

I like how a lot more Indian people are being recognized, its about damn time :p