Film by Talin Subbarya
In collaboration with Armaan Mishra and Priyanka Chandrasekhar The Alarippu is a piece from the Bharatanatyam repertoire. It is essentially supposed to mean, “the blooming of a flower”. The film documents a dance that is performed in various public spaces around Bangalore. The dance is an amalgamation of the performers explorations of homosexuality in public spaces using the alarippu as its structure. It attempts at binding together these experiences of sexuality as well as learning and performing the alarippu itself. At a point when the performer started figuring out that he were homosexual, the city was, and in certain ways still is, his site of exploration. Buses, chai shops, bus stops became spaces of resilience, encounters and pleasure. While fear lingered on there was also a sense of excitement that accompanied those moments. The performer believes that public spaces are kinder to individuals who are queer and seek intimacy. He believe that the city doesn’t erases his sexuality, instead it allows for it. It makes space for it. Maybe, it even nurtures it. In some ways, An Alarippu is an ode to the public spaces in the city for aiding and guiding these explorations.
