Nidhi Singh in Person Khush is an Urdu word meaning "ecstatic pleasure." It is also the word used by South Asian lesbians and gay men to identify themselves. Pratibha Parmar's Khush (1991, 24 mins) presents an uplifting portrait of a sexuality inspired by specific cultural experience. Beautifully lit fantasies, Indian dance, and a sensuous soundtrack are interspersed with the testimonials of lesbians and gay men living in Britain, North America and India. Prem Kalliat's Jareena: Portrait of a Hijda (1990, 32 mins) offers us a privileged entry into the hijda sect, a community of transsexuals that has survived in India for centuries. Jareena, the protagonist of this ebullient documentary, thrives within her elusive hijda circle as a woman; within the larger realm of Bangalore, she is also accorded such a status as she lives by her "female" charms. But on return to the village of her birth, Jareena sheds the feminine for her previous male image. Kalliat delicately explores these dual roles and the fluidity of gender, always returning to the joyous sisterhood of the hijda. Nidhi Singh's Khush Refugees (1990, 32 mins) focuses on San Francisco's gay community where two exiles, Rahul, an immigrant from India, and Dante, an ex-marine from suburban Ohio, try to assimilate in this new "foreign" culture. Singh brackets their inter-racial relationship in an expressive docudrama that combines personal vignettes with Indian landscapes, snapshots from home, Castro Street scenes, and erotic temple carvings. Particularly intriguing are Rahul's witty observations about American culture and his timid coming-of-age. This entertaining videowork asserts that simply departing from the norm can earn one refugee status. -Steve Seid