Indian Actress in American Lesbian Film - Post Bollywood Controversy!

Indian Actress in American Lesbian Film - Post Bollywood Controversy!

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Famous Indian actress Purva Bedi has signed on to do a controversial film, where her role as a lesbian has become the center of attention.

Bollywood actress Perizaad Zorabian made international headlines when she turned down the role due to her "own personal inhibitions about playing a lesbian," even as she acknowledged, "Kiran is a fantastic role for any actor who has the courage to think with an open mind." http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/2006/12/kiran.html

One of America's first South Asian-American actresses to hit the silver screen, Purva Bedi made quite an impact on all of us when she appeared in the cult hit "AMERICAN DESI." It can be said that she broke a lot of barriers that some newer South Asian-American actresses are now enjoying the benefits of. It was a risk that paid off with roles in the films Cosmopolitan, Green Card Fever and various appearances in television shows including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Alias and ER. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0066072/

Some would say that Bedi has taken another chance in accepting the lead role in ARYA-fame director Manan Singh Katohora's cross-cultural film "WHEN KIRAN MET KAREN." Interracial lesbian relationships are not common in popular media, and neither are roles in which a woman from the traditionally conservative world of Bollywood explores her sexuality. However concerns on behalf of prominent Indian actresses that the role would prejudice their Bollywood careers if they took it on have not fazed Indian-American Bedi, who said the decision to play the lead was a relatively quick and easy one, stating, "I wanted to make this movie because it tells a story that in the Indian diaspora has rarely been shared. In India, lesbianism is not only a taboo subject, but previous films based on the subject have bombed at the box office. This is one reason actresses there are reluctant to play these parts and one more reason for me to take the scary plunge of doing something that might fail but might also increase the possibilities of the roles Bollywood actresses are willing to accept and stories filmmakers want to tell." http://www.outinperth.com/Life/Arts/view_fullstory.php?id=62

With the astounding success of Independent movies like Water, Brokeback Mountain, Fire -- Katohora is very hopeful about the film.

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