Bharath, who has earlier worked as the chief assistant director for the Hindi hit ‘Bheja Fry’, has several documentaries to his credit, including one on the call centres in Kolkata. Alka too has made two short films for Bengal television and documentaries for Doordarshan. Graduates from the Satyajit Ray Film and TV institute (Kolkata), the duo’s documentary is being made for NHK, the public broadcasting company of Japan with the film’s focus on Bangalore and Kolktata. Bharath and Alka spoke to Metrolife about the theme of urban sexuality, Bangalore’s youth and more.

Why is Japan interested in the urban sexuality scene in Bangalore?
It is mainly the Japanese government's official interest. As Japan wants to invest in India, knowing about its youth is a part of its larger interest. Bangalore is the IT hub and hence the special interest in it. They want to know how the young here are coping with the drastic changes and the transformation of a cool city into the Silicon Valley.

So, what have you found out?
There is a kind of euphoria that huge money brings in and it’s in turn acting on the personal growth. Cultural interaction with people is narrowing down and the youth is nervous. They are making smaller groups and are not actually opening up. They have great difficulty in interacting with people at large.

Why is it so?
Compared to the previous generation who were more rooted in their jobs, the new generation is less challenged because of the repetitiveness in their work. Most of the youth in the IT sector are bored, tired and exasperated. So, the interaction levels have reduced drastically. In Bangalore, the rich-poor divide is extremely pronounced. Bangalore's urban elite and the common man on the streets never meet at any point. Unlike Marathi culture, which has penetrated into the mainstream cinema and is appreciated by the multiplex audience, Bangalore’s street culture never gets into the multiplex.

Is the City open to sex?
Bangalore has a huge market for pornographic CDs. Major share of pornography cases come from Karnataka. The porn film, which made big news in the international porn film circuit, ‘Mysore Mallige’, was made in Mysore. Through our film, we explore how Bangalore’s youth react to porn. We are tracing the habits of young people working in the IT industry and their everyday life.

What are your findings?
Most of the porn viewers are men but there are many women viewers too. Everyone of them have seen ‘Mysore Mallige’. However, women are much more restricted while talking about sexuality. At least on camera, they hold back their words, whereas men are boastful. Boys tend to show off how many films they have seen and their favourites.

Has anyone found it difficult in get porn films?
No. Porn is easily available in Bangalore, they say. There is a large number of cyber centers that cater to porn watchers. The restrictions on it largely go unobserved.

Did you find this affecting the public behaviour at large?
(Alka) Oh largely! I had heard that Bangalore is a safe city and that it’s a pub city and also a fashion city. So, I was not prepared to see so much hostility to women's dressing here on the streets. Barring a few roads, anywhere you go dressed in western wear, you are stared at and obscene comments are passed. Girls do hang out with boys but that is strictly restricted to a certain class. The worst feared are the autorickshaws.
Lack of efficient public transport system and total dependency on autos allows auto drivers to take advantage of a lonely girl commuting late. Coming from Delhi, I know how it is when Delhi was called the rape capital. But Bangalore is fast moving towards becoming the rape capital of India. I have not experienced anything like this in Mumbai, Kolkata or even Delhi.