New Film on Male Sex Workers in Mumbai

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends

Happy Hookers is an independent documentary film (54mts/DVD) exploring the

secret world of male sex workers in Bombay, India- where homosexuality is still

criminalisable.

The film enters the lives of 3 young men who live and ply themselves as sex

workers in Bombay. Bisexual Shakeel has left his rural village and migrated to

Bombay, where he works as an extra in Bollywood- and through his sex work- seems

to have created a new lifestyle. Vicky is effeminate and enjoys being a woman in

the Marathi folk ‘tamasha’ that he dances in, when he is’nt being sent by his

pimp to customers; Imran is married, works part-time at a tailoring shop and

cruises the nearest railway station for some easy cash to take home to his

family.

The film explores social taboo’s regarding HIV, homosexuality and the

commodification of sex, as well as throw’s light on the fact that men in sex

work occupy an entirely different universe to that of female sex workers. The

differences between the two genders is enormous and reflects on the spaces that

men and women occupy in a patriarchal ‘man’s world’. It is shot on DV and

features composed music alongside a retro Bollywood track.

The film has been selected to play at Outfest LA, Lisbon GLFF, Reeling Chicago,

Fusion LA and Lille France thus far.

DVD copies are available for $50 approximately at:

Ashish Sawhny,

Box Office Productions,

61 Sea View,

106 Chimbai Road,

Bandra (W), Mumbai 400050,

India.

e-mail: bop@...

Tel: +91-9820186680

______________________

Tyne

e-mail: <tynematthew@...>