Should Indian actors play gay roles?

The refusal of some of the top actors to play a gay character in Madhur Bhandarkar's forthcoming Fashion raises a strong question - Are our actors too careful about their 'safe' image to take up challenging roles such as these? Is it high time they moved out from their formulaic cocoon to address larger social issues through their art? Or, are they justified in shying away from setting examples that make a point, because in the end, every artist has a right to 'protect' himself from controversy? But when these very stars are ready to face tough criticism of their performances head on, why is it that choosing an untrodden path as far as roles are concerned scares them?"What are they scared of? Even Hollywood actors like Richard Gere have played sensitive gay roles. I would tell them to come ahead and take up the challenge to set an example", urges Anjali Gopalan, founder and Executive Director of Naz foundation, an NGO involved in GLBT awareness and rights. "It's stupid to have this kind of a discriminating outlook while deciding what role to play", agrees sociologist Dr Urmi Mala Sarkar. If Shahrukh can crack a light-hearted joke on a television show when being asked what he would do if he discovered he woke up in the morning to find a certain male director sleeping next to him, why can't he