I was at home relaxing with my TV remote and flipping channels when I came across the trailer for ‘Dostana’. And that got me thinking… has Bollywood finally acknowledged this section of the population in a non-stereotyped manner? What about Indian television – is it ready to broadcast shows dealing with gay issues?

With the Indian TV industry taking more and more cues from Bollywood, will the stories and themes from one seep into the other just like celebrities invading reality shows? And in the unlikely event that a gay character or theme makes it to an Indian TV show, will the audience accept it like any other new trend or will they walk the streets in protest?

All these questions made me analyse the issue from the viewer’s point of view. As a viewer, would I be willing to accept such a trend or not. And the honest answer that came to me was ‘maybe’. Change is the only constant in life and getting stuck in the rut of watching reruns of saas-bahu serials does not make sense in the long run.

The Indian TV industry is definitely attempting to break out of its tight bonds and come up with something new. There are experiments with new genres and different types of stories using elements of mythology, thrillers as well as new forms of comedy and edutainment; the growing number of shows is evidence of this. Compared to the fairly recent past, TV shows have certainly come a long way.

But broadcasting anything portraying gay issues is still quite a stretch, isn’t it? There is a huge difference between the small screen and the big one; the audiences may not be all that different but the mindset of the TV viewing public is what distinguishes them. The Indian TV audience is still very conservative and takes pride in the purity of its culture – it’s the reason why shows like ‘Mahabharatha’ and ‘Ramayana’ will always be popular.

My job is not to vote for or against shedding light on gay themes on Indian television – I respect an individual’s right to choose how to live their life. We may live in an evolving world but there are some deep-rooted values within Indian culture that may never change. The default setting for Indian minds is to process things in a conservative manner and the Indian TV industry is only now beginning to move beyond its staple fare. Will Indian programming ever deal with homosexual issues? The short answer would be – don’t hold your breath.