Mahesh Dattani's Mango Soufflé, starring Dodo Bhujwala (left), Ankur Vikal (right), Atul Kulkarni and Rinke Khanna USP Realistic portrayal of the conflicts in gay relationships

A woman discovers to her horror that her husband is a bisexual and attracted to her best friend who is gay. A lesbian jailer forces herself on a female inmate. A drag queen and his lover hit the road in the footsteps of Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. What is new? Such themes are no longer daring in world cinema. But in Bollywood these movies now sound the clapperboard of change.

Three films-Ghaav, Mango Soufflé and Samvedna-set for a year-end release deal with homosexual relationships and seem ready to fire up Indian cinema. Meanwhile Auroville 316, the 86-minute documentary that is a take-off on Priscilla, is getting good reviews in the film festival circuit. Is Bollywood finally moving away from the straight path and successfully?

Bollywood's earlier exploration of lesbianism in Deepa Mehta's Fire and Mira Nair's Kamasutra met with stiff opposition from the culture brigade. Homosexuality quietly sneaked in films like Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and Na Tum Jano Na Hum as a theme to be mocked at.

Shamin Desai's Auroville 316, starring Meghna Reddy (above), Dodo Bhujwala and Kelly Dorjee USP Has provocative images, dirty dialogue, good-looking bodies

The four films present a radical shift from the usual fare with a range of gay and lesbian characters-straitlaced, outgoing and even flaunting it in your face. It is out in the open, literally. In Mahesh Dattani's Mango Soufflé, Ankur Vikal and Dodo Bhujwala swim naked in a pool, and sexual orientations and the tenuous strings of relationships are revealed during a Sunday brunch. In Ghaav a lesbian jailer (Mita Vasisht) rapes a convict (Seema Biswas), who later avenges her humiliation. While Sanjeev Chaddha's Samvedna has Ayesha Jhulka playing a woman who weans her husband away from his bisexual leanings, Auroville 316 teems with provocative posturing.

The fury generated by Fire, however, has not died out. Chaddha almost dropped the movie when industry watchers warned that the controversial topic could affect his career. He told the scriptwriter that he did not want to make a C-grade film. Though he was again agog when he learned that the story was based on a real life incident he worked on the script for four months to avoid irking the Censor Board and the culture police.

Om Puri, who plays a CBI officer in Ghaav, does not expect the film to create a furore like Fire since it "does not explore sexuality as the main subject". But for producer K.K. Nayyar the provocative subplot involving the jailer is a blessing. It has helped the film, with an Adults Only certificate, garner the publicity that a movie made on a Rs 1 crore budget needed. "More than Seema Biswas, Om Puri and Mita Vasisht, the lesbian angle has helped distribute my film all over India," says Nayyar. The censors suggested just a single cut: of an intimate scene between Vasisht and Biswas replete with expletives.

Sanjeev Chaddha's Samvedna, starring Ayesha Jhulka (above) and Nakul Vaid USP A film with a social message, it takes a look at bisexuality

Dattani expects little trouble from the censors on his film as "the action stays above the belt". He says he had no political agenda in writing On a Muggy Night in Mumbai, the play from which Mango Soufflé is adapted. "Same-sex sexuality is an unspoken part of our life. So far the imagery has not been detailed in literature or cinema. So a big deal is made out of films exploring it," says Dattani. He adds tongue-in-cheek, "I was disappointed when there was no adverse political reaction. I was hoping the fundamentalists would give us some free publicity!"

The directors took extra effort in filming the ticklish topic. The scripts of all the four films were ready before shooting began. Chaddha had his entire cast working alongside his scripting sessions and Dattani, living up to his tag of being a sensitive director on stage, had extensive rehearsals before filming. What made the directors task easy was the comfort level of the actors playing homosexual roles. Theatre artist Bhujwala, who plays the gay protagonist in Mango Soufflé and Auroville 316, says, "It was not like the director says 'Kiss', and you kiss! We prepared to get comfortable with the scene." A graduate of the National School of Drama, Ankur Vikal is at ease with the sexual variance of his role in Mango Soufflé though it is his debut. "He is like any other character, a successful fashion designer who deals with his inner conflicts and relationships. His being gay is incidental," says Vikal.

Jay's Ghaav, starring Mita Vasisht (left), Seema Biswas (right) and Om Puri USP A commercial potboiler, its subplot has titillating scenes of lesbianism

Like Nakul Vaid, who plays the bisexual in Samvedna, National Award winner Atul Kulkarni who acts as Ed in Mango Soufflé was attracted to the prospect of playing a gay as the character was intense. Kulkarni says, "The film is a love triangle involving men."

Is the audience ready for such films? Shamin Desai, maker of Auroville 316, says, "Hindi films even now don't have a love-making scene. Having grown up on a diet of 'chiffon cinema' it will be a while before the masses are ready for homosexuality on screen." Dattani will release the film only in metros not just because it is an urban tale but because he feels the city people will best understand the hidden spaces of sexual expression. Chaddha says homosexuality is rampant in small towns as well as cities and plans to release his film across India by Diwali. "The film tells a woman not to flinch if her husband has unusual sexual preferences but to fight to win him back," he says.

For now the filmmakers have their gaze fixed on the festival circuit. Small wonder since it helped Desai get the funds for his second film. Now, both filmmakers and critics need only wait to see if Bollywood exploring new horizons will have a happy ending in the theatres.