Articulating "Indianness": Woman-Centred Desire and the Parameters for Nationalism

In this article I explore some of the parameters for cinematic representations of women-centered desire in India. Although desire between women has been documented to demonstrate a long presence in history and literature, depictions in film over the last decade have drawn protests from nationalists that these films are un-Indian. Through films such as Fire (1996), Girlfriend (2004), and The Journey (2004) I discuss the possibilities and limits for figuring desire in the context of postcolonial nationhood and the ways in which these films can adhere to or subvert national and sexual narratives and norms.