The movie caused a sensation for screening Bollywood’s first gay kiss. The sequel featured the industry’s first gay wedding.

Actor, writer and director Kapil Kaustubh Sharma – not to be confused with the comedian of the same name – and actor, model and dancer Yuvraaj Parashar were in Durban last week for the South African premier of movie Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyon (Don’t Know Why) at the Durban Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Sadly, a hiccup with the Film and Publication Board ratings of the movies at the festival meant it had to be postponed to later this month, but The Independent on Saturday caught up with the pair while they were in town.

Sharma spoke of the mood in India before the movie was released.

“In India, LGBT issues were backward. It did not seem possible to make a movie. And gay characters that directors were showing were caricatures. They were typecast and too feminine and the subject of cheap jokes,” he said.

“Then I saw Brokeback Mountain and it inspired me. The actors were real. It had a human side. I thought if it could happen in Hollywood, why not in India.”

Sharma and Parashar created Dunno Y... Na Jaane Kyon in 2010, scripted by Sharma and produced by Parashar.

“I produced it with my own money. There was no government support, no release support. There were problems from political parties, threatening mail and death threats. We were accused of destroying Indian culture,” Parashar said. Read more via IOL