At 16, I was in a traumatic relationship with a closeted gay man: Celina Jaitley
Actor Celina Jaitley, last seen in the film Will You Marry Me? (2012) before she vanished completely from the Bollywood scene, is now set to return to acting. For her comeback she chose Season’s Greetings: A Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh, a short film which revolves around the recently abolished Section 377.
On what prompted her return to acting, Celina says, “This movie by Ram Kamal Mukherjee is a calling from the beyond, of important people in my life who are no more. Initially, I was not a part of this film. But I guess it’s destiny. I recently lost my mother, and while reading the script I could relate to the intense relationship I shared with her. I had tears rolling down as I was going through the character graph of the daughter in the film.” Lillette Dubey plays Celina’s mother in the film.
Speaking more about why the subject appeals to her, she says, “The film deals with every aspect of the LGTBQIA. A famous gay Kolkata based make-up artist was a mother figure to me in my struggling days as a model there. I closely observed his trials and tribulations as a gay middleaged man, then as a senior citizen. Incidentally, at the same time I was in a traumatic relationship with a closeted gay man. At 16, you think prayers and shamans can fix this. Their untimely deaths a few years later made me realise that everyone has the right to life and choose whom they can have a relationship with. I had to do something about it. After 12 years as an activist, the United Nations appointed me as a goodwill ambassador for the same cause and today we have come full circle after abolishment of Section 377.”
About what kept her busy these years, she says, “This sabbatical was one of the best things I have done in my life. Career-wise it was never goodbye, it was a sabbatical during which I was able to turn producer and also work on my talents as a recording artist. I performed with Sting on Broadway… I began work on my forthcoming books and truly found peace in pursuing completely different aspects of myself. Motherhood and all of the wonderful things have been such a refreshing blessing to someone who monotonously worked since the age of 15.”