“5 Weddings” opened in more than a dozen countries this weekend — including the U.S, Russia, and India — but one nation has made it crystal clear that Namrata Singh Gujral’s feature is unwelcome there. The romantic comedy about a journalist who travels to India to write a story about the country’s world-famous wedding ceremonies has been banned by Kuwait. The Western Asian country barred “5 Weddings” on account of its portrayal of “Hijras, a sect of transgender dancers who have been an integral part of Indian wedding tradition for centuries,” Deadline reports.
“It is shocking to me that in 2018 — an entire nation would ban a film because it has transgender characters. Why? Are they not human?” Gujral told the source. “I can tell you stories from Censors around the world that will make your head spin. I feel so blessed to live in a country where we have freedom of speech and can live and let live.”
Kuwait isn’t the only country to object to the depiction of Hijaras. “Malaysia approved the film — but with 21 cuts in a 90-minute film, all of which exclude the transgender characters,” the source notes. “Other countries are also considering banning the film, which is rated PG in English-speaking countries and is a family film.”
Gujral cast the transgender Indian actors in an effort to be inclusive and to “honor their role in her culture and the world.” At first, the director was unsure if the ladies from the Hijra community would be willing to be in the film. She was surprised to discover “a line of beautiful ladies ready to audition.”
“In particular, one bowled me over,” she said. “When asked why she wanted to be a part of the film, instead of saying she wanted to famous or wanted to be an actress, she simply said: ‘I want to tell my story truthfully. Yes, we behave larger than life in public. But within our walls — we are just people. With hearts that beat just like the rest of the world.’”
The news stings especially badly in light of the Trump administration’s efforts to dehumanize transgender citizens, strip them of their rights, and dictate their identities. The ACLU and Little by Little Films have been fighting back with a new web series, “Trans in America.” Available on the ACLU’s website, YouTube, and Conde Nast’s LGBTQ+ platform, them, the doc series tells the story of three trans individuals and their experiences.
Earlier this year another film made headlines after being banned for its inclusive content. Written and directed by Wanuri Kahiu, lesbian romance “Rafiki” was banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board in advance of its world premiere at Cannes, where it made history as the first Kenyan feature to premiere at the fest. The pic centers on two teens who face backlash from their families and communities when they fall in love. Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, and the Kenya Film Classification Board determined that “the moral of the story in this film is to legitimize lesbianism in Kenya contrary to the law and the Board’s content classification guidelines.” In September a Kenyan judge temporarily lifted the country’s ban on the film, making it eligible for consideration in the Oscars’ foreign-language category. Ultimately, the film wasn’t chosen to represent Kenya.
