Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon
- 22 September 2010 (2010-09-22) (I View Festival)
- 12 November 2010 (2010-11-12) (India)
Hindi
Dunno Y ... Na Jaane Kyon (transl. Don't know why) is a 2010 bilingual Indian film. It was directed by Sanjay Sharma and written by Kapil Sharma, who also played the lead.[2] It premiered in April 2010 at India's first mainstream gay film festival, the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.
The film had its North American premiere at the I View Film Festival in New York City and was screened at the Sydney Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of London (IFFL) and Filmfest homochrom in Germany.[3] Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon was released in theatres in Austria, Italy and Switzerland in September 2010.[4]
The film received the Best Sensitive Award at the Kashish Queer International film festival 2010 and the Viewer Choice Award at the Satrang Film Festival of Sydney 2010.[5] It also won the Best Film awards at the Poland Film Festival 2014,[6] Naples Italy 2014,[7] and the Nasik International Film Festival 2014. Lead actors, Yuvraaj Parashar and Kapil Sharma won Best Actor awards at Out View Film Festival Greece 2012.[8] The film was screened at 17 international film festivals. A sequel has also been made starring Zeenat Aman, Kapil Sharma and Yuvraaj Parashar.
Cast
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Yuvraj_parashar_and_kapil_sharma.jpg/220px-Yuvraj_parashar_and_kapil_sharma.jpg)
- Zeenat Aman as Nazneen Ali Mirza
- Kapil Sharma as Aryan
- Kabir Bedi
- Hazel Croney
- Helen
- Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal
- Yuvraaj Parashar as Ashley
- Asha Sachdev
- Parikshat Sahni
- Rituparna Sengupta
- Aryan Vaid
Music
The film's music is composed by Nikhil Kamat. The theme song "Pal Mein Rishte Badal Jaate Hain" is performed by Lata Mangeshkar.[9] The film also features Zeenat Aman performing the song "Aap Jaisa Koi" from her film Qurbani and the song "Chura Liya Hai Tumne" from Yaadon Ki Baraat.[10]
- "Atariyan Main" - Rekha Rao
- "Dabi Dabi Khwahishein" (duet) - Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal
- "Dabi Dabi Khwahishein (male)" - Shaan
- "Dabi Dabi Khwahishein (version 2)" - Shaan, Farhad Bhiwandiwala and Shreya Ghoshal
- "Dunno Y Na Jaane Kyon (male)" - Shaan
- "Dunno Y Na Jaane Kyon (female)" - Lata Mangeshkar
- "Helen Theme" - N/A
- "Jenny/Ashley in Love" - N/A
- "Saiyan Saiyan" - Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Nikhil
- "Mumbai Meri Hain" - Anee Chatterjee
- "Zeenat Aman (sad theme)" - N/A
Controversy
The real life parents of Yuvraaj Parashar, one of two lead characters, have initiated legal action to disown him because of the shame arising from the film, claiming to "not want to see his face even in death".[11] This came despite Parashar winning acclaim from Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Chhagan Bhujbal for his sensitive portrayal of gay men.[12]
Furthermore, the lovemaking scene between Parashar and Kapil Sharma is facing censorship. Sharma said: "Why should the censors be scandalised if two men are kissing and making love? The ones in my film are very aesthetic. And so what if it’s two men making love? Love is love regardless of gender."[13]
References
- ^ Roshni Mukherjee (12 November 2010). "People are so focussed on the script: Maradona". Times of India. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Jason Burke (23 April 2010). "India's answer to Brokeback Mountain ready to hit cinemas". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "Dunno Y ... Na Jaane Kyun". homochrom. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Kapil, Yuvraaj Parashar going global". Times of India. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ "Kapil, Yuvraaj Parashar going global". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Dunno Y...honoured at Poland's LGBT film fest". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Dunno Y.. bags an award at an Italian film festival". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Dunno Y... actors win awards at Athens film fest". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ Roshmila Bhattacharya (19 August 2010). "Lata Mangeshkar sings for Zeenat Aman". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ Shaheeen Parkar (12 December 2009). "Zeenat forced to sing Aap Jaisa Koi as punishment". Mid-Day. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Hernandez, Greg (27 September 2010). "Indian film star Yuvraaj Parasher is disowned by his family for playing a gay man in a film". Greginhollywood.com. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "Yuvraaj's family family disowns him — Times Of India". Times of India. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "Gay Film in India Sparks Homophobia DUNNO Y...NA JAANE KYUN". Best Gay News Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
External links
- Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon at IMDb
- Bollywood director confident gay kiss will pass censors - BBC