Is this what the Peter Pan world of comics is coming to?

A recent article in The Times has taken Tintin fans by surprise and thrown the Internet chat forums into a tizzy.

The author’s tongue-in-cheek article explains clues buried in the Tintin books all leading to one conclusion. That Tintin is gay.

Fans the world over have been debating Tintin’s sexual orientation for years and Times author Matthew Parris‘ article has come as Herge’s immortal comic character turned 80 this month.

I must say I have taken the news quite well given that my childhood plans (of marrying the Belgian cub reporter when I grow up) are now in serious trouble.

It is the sign of the complex times we live in that makes it imperative that we look beyond the make-believe world of our super heroes and delve deep into their souls to see if Batman and Robin had a thing going on between them in Gotham.

Now, I take my comics seriously. I may not still have gotten the grip of my chopsticks correct, but I can wield a deadly weapon when I am prowling the night city for potential criminals. Have been since I was seven years old.

So naturally I wondered if there is any need at all for children to think beyond the wonderful deeds of men in tights beating up the bad guy.

If in the last two decades the thought did not cross my mind why Tintin spends so much time alone with Captain Haddock in Marlinspike Hall, I can’t bring myself to do it now.

As a woman obsessed with Harry Potter, the news that Dumbledore, the mad genius headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wichcraft and Wizardry, is gay, came as a huge surprise.

Most fans had no inkling of the shocker that author JK Rowling threw at them at an interaction after the last of the series was launched.

Oh we have seen some seriously dark magic. The books that began as an innocent trip into the magic world of witches and wizards became grim towards the end in their portrayal of deaths and torture.

The news of Dumbledore’s outing raised huge cheers from Rowling’s audience in signs of how mindsets have begun to change from a very young age. Youths seem more prone to go beyond the talking-down-at prudishness of old fairy tales to explore more of a world they can relate to.

That said, I can’t help but ask. Is it necessary for children to peep through the eyehole into their super heroes’ bedrooms?

Tintin books still sell two to three million copies a year and more than 200 million copies have been sold since Herge drew the young reporter with a scarf around his neck accompanied by his talking dog Snowy.

There is no question that he still remains hugely favourite with readers the world over.

It is suddenly a discussion point with fans that Dumbledore and Tintin, loved fanatically as they are by millions, may be homosexuals.

Surely by the same yardstick Tarzan, Phantom, Spiderman and Superman’s romances must also be over analysed and debated?

Yet for a 10-year-old, what matters most is that the bad guy must lose, please God, and the hero must win the day.

Like in life, gay or straight.

‘Dostana’ is a path-breaking Bollywood film alright. Maybe not for gay rights but certainly the number of times the word ‘gay’ has been used in a single film.

Indians hoping for a “Brokeback Mountain” may do well to stay away from this slapstick comedy about two men pretending to be a gay couple in order to lay hands on a top-notch condo overlooking the sun-kissed sands of Miami.

The opening shot of John Abraham emerging from the sea sets the tone for the film, with the camera lens lingering a tad too long on his bright yellow trunks.

The latest offering from filmmaker Karan Johar features the usual mélange of romance, snazzy designer wear, exotic locales and foot-tapping numbers.

But writer-director Tarun Mansukhani plays a masterstroke with the ‘gay’ plot, setting the stage for a hitherto unused treasure trove of witty one-liners and bawdy humour.

But why do the leading men pretend to be gay?

Well, photographer Kunal (John Abraham) joins male nurse Sam (Abhishek Bachchan) in the hunt for an apartment, destiny taking both to the abode of (Neha) Priyanka Chopra.

But Neha’s guardian aunt is on her guard against the two strapping young men. Until Sam has the brainwave of confessing they are gay — and therefore ideal flatmates for a single woman.

The only problem — both have fallen head-over-heels for the vivacious Neha, who works for Verve magazine.

The object of their attention remains oblivious, enjoying the company of her ‘gay’ best friends and arousing their jealousy when a third admirer drops in — Neha’s boss Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol).

The big question — will love triumph over friendship? Or will the ‘gay’ tag be a hindrance.

The first half of “Dostana” is a delight. Bachchan as Sam draws the most laughs, especially with his antics in the Venice flashback sequence he concocts when asked how he and Kunal became a couple.

Sam’s London-based mom, played by a feisty Kirron Kher, doesn’t take too kindly to the idea of her son being gay — and crosses the Atlantic to harangue him.

Also not to be missed is a cameo by Boman Irani, playing a flamboyantly gay editor of Verve magazine, swinging hips with Bachchan and Abraham to a sizzling item number originally picturised on Bipasha Basu.

Unfortunately, the magic of “Dostana” wears off in the second half. The dialogues lose their spontaneity as the film veers inexorably towards its predictable climax.

And even Bachchan, who so ably carried the first half on his shoulders, can’t salvage the film from a heady mix of item numbers and far-fetched scenarios.

Still, if all you want is a dose of non-stop entertainment, gay or not gay, “Dostana” is the movie for you.

There might be some debate on whether the gay characters or mannerisms portrayed in the film are stereotypical, but it’s the first time Bollywood’s leading men are even pretending to be homosexual — so it’s certainly one giant leap for India’s gay community.

A lot of taboos are being broken in Bollywood today. Kissing on screen is no longer frowned upon. Protagonists actually have grey shades. Having live-in relationships and pre-marital sex is no longer the preserve of villains.

And now the Indian film industry is set to break another barrier.

For years the word gay was all but banned in the oh-so-straight world of Bollywood, where heroes were always blue-blooded heterosexuals, with a harem of girls at their feet while heroines had eyes only for the opposite sex.

It is perhaps a reflection of the way in which Indian society has become more open that even Bollywood is now being inclusive.

The new Abhishek Bachchan-John Abraham film “Dostana” shows the two protagonists pretending to be gay, complete with a dance sequence in the moonlight.

A few years ago in “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan treated the whole homosexuality element with some slapstick humour.

Deepa Mehta dealt with homosexuality in a bold manner in her film “Fire,” the story of two women in middle class Delhi who are trapped in loveless marriages and find love in each other. But the film was not without its share of controversy, with protests dogging it throughout its short run at the box-office.

Madhur Bhandarkar also depicted homosexuality within the glamour industry in his critically acclaimed “Page 3″.

There are more gay characters in Hindi movies than ever before. One day, we might even have a “Brokeback Mountain” in Bollywood and it won’t cause a furore in India. Here’s looking forward to that day.