Ian McKellen Decries India's Anti-Gay Law

According to the HollywoodReporter.com, Ian McKellen used his first visit to India to bring attention to gay rights in a country where homosexuality is a criminal offense.

In an interview with online magazine Scroll, he said: "You have a repressive law in place for which I should apologize, because it's not an Indian law, it's a British law that we left behind. You should have got rid of it, and you tried to, and it's come back, but it will go again, I'm sure."

The comments were about India's Section 377 law, introduced in 1862 under British rule, which criminalized sexual activity defined as "against the order of nature" and which can award a maximum life sentence.

McKellen's India visit is part of his global tour as ambassador for the British Film Institute's Shakespeare on Film program to mark 400 years of William Shakespeare's death. The tour also takes him to the Shanghai Film Festival in June, among others.

McKellen in an on-stage discussion with Bollywood star Aamir Khan on Monday for the event, co-presented by the British Council India and the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images, which organize the annual Mumbai Film Festival, also addressed the law.

When Khan pointed out that the law was drafted by the British, McKellen drew parallels with his home country. "We changed [our laws] long back in England, but you are holding on to it to protect yourselves from western culture," he said, according to the Indian Express

McKellen was also scheduled to attend the opening ceremony Wednesday as chief guest of the Kashish Mumbai International Queer festival, India's only mainstream LGBT film festival. Now in its seventh year, the festival's opening film is lesbian drama Carol starring Cate Blanchett.

The 182-title strong program also includes Indian films such as Hansal Mehta's acclaimed Aligarh, based on the true story of a university professor who loses everything, including his life, when he is discovered to be gay. Given India's conservative environment, despite the odds, some Indian film-makers are beginning to push the envelope with more realistic depictions of onscreen homosexuality.

"Increasingly, in India too, the film industry has matured, treating gay people with the same seriousness as straight characters," McKellen said in a statement, adding, "I look forward at Kashish to discovering more about Bollywood's film-makers who reject fantasy for the truth about gay people."

A legend of the stage and screen, Sir Ian McKellen has been honored with over 50 international acting awards and is co-founder of Stonewall UK, which lobbies for legal and social equality for gay people. He is treasured worldwide as "Magneto" in the X-Men films and "Gandolf" in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Born and raised in the north of England, 75-year-old McKellen attended Cambridge University and since 1961 has worked non-stop in the British theatre. Among his countless accolades, he has won Olivier Awards for "Macbeth," "The Alchemist," "Beny," "Wild Honey" and "Richard III." In 1991 Sir Ian was knighted for his outstanding contribution to theatre. In 2008, the Queen personally appointed him Companion of Honour for his services to drama and to equality.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ian McKellen's Official Facebook Page