Dunno Y? Na Jaane Kyon Movie Review: Dunno Y?Na Jaane Kyun: Gay Plan Gone Unhappy?

Director Sanjay Sharma is to be credited for his bold attempt at making a film on gay relationships. It is definitely a step ahead from the days when homosexuality was considered a taboo in Indian society. Actually, homosexuality is taboo in Indian society. It's still something which is spoken of in whispers accompanied by sniggers and jeers. Of course, there was Onir's 'My Brother Nikhil' which was made on the same subject a few years ago and made quite an impact. In the Nineties, Deepa Mehta's 'Fire', which was about lesbian relationships, created a ruckus in many places with screenings being halted and cinema halls stoned.

In 2010, we seemed to have come a long way from those tumultuous times, or so it seems. The film in question, 'Dunno?Y' seems to tread this forbidden territory and that is commendable. But the treatment is hardly exemplary. Rather, the film is marred by amateurish handling on part of the director and clich?d and banal writing by Kapil Sharma.

In short, the film's story is basically about a gay model who is forced to compromise for his career; something which female models have been facing for years. He meets and falls in love with a man, who is married and lives with his family. The two enter into a relationship, which sets of a chain of events.

While the good thing about the movie is the fact that it shows a gay relationship which is as normally intense as any man woman relationship would be. The two men are so much in love with one another that the married guy wants to leave his wife and live with his lover. But immediately, the director seems to develop chicken feet and balances it out by showing his wife (Rituparna Sengupta) having an affair with her husband's younger brother (Maradona Rebello).

Then there is this complicated Anglo Indian family, where the father (Kabir Bedi) seems to have absconded, leaving behind his wife (Zeenat Aman) to fend for herself and the family. The wife, in turn submits to the advances of the lecherous boss because of what she can get out of it. And finally, there is Helen, who plays the mother in law.

The plot seems to meander and move away from the core issue and get into other subplots which weaken the main premise of the movie. The other problem with the movie is that most of it is in English and the most atrocious English at that, which gets very jarring after a while. At times, the movie also seems to just about stop short of sleaze.

The maker's intentions seem good but if he had stuck to the core issue, the film would have made a much stronger impact. As it turns out now, the film is quite a half baked effort. What really comes out of this is really a dysfunctional family with its share of skeletons, with homosexuality being just one of them.

As for the lead actors, Kapil Sharma and Yuvraaj Parashar, they put in a very convincing performance. The film also sees veterans like Kabir Bedi, Zeenat Aman and Helen, the last of who is a treat to watch. The other members of the cast, like Rituparna, Aryan Vaid, Rebello and Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal chip in with competent performances.

What works for this film is the fact that it attempts to deal with a new concept. But the key word here is 'attempt' as the film hardly lives up to its promise or hype. Being bold and adventurous is fine, but if the story is not written and told well, it all comes to nought.