Sir Ian McKellen on Shakespeare, naughty tales from his LGBT activism, and why India needs to shed its colonial hangover
Vishwas Kulkarni (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 24, 2016)

You've been associated with Shakespeare all your life. You've recently launched the Heuristic Shakespeare app to demystify the bard to a younger generation. You also quoted, "I've never downloaded an app in my life."
(Laughs). That is true. Actually, one of my long-standing collaborators, Richard Loncraine, the director of Richard III, was very keen on creating this app. He went to a good school that taught bad Shakespeare. The idea was to teach young kids Shakespeare in a way that is fun. For instance, how are you going to explain the significance of Shakespeare to a 14-year-old? So therefore an app that brings to life the text. That said, the Heuristic Shakespeare is an aid; it is not meant to be a substitute for reading Shakespeare or watching it on film or stage.

Speaking of stage, 10 years ago, The Daily Telegraph released a DVD indeed of Trevor Nunn's studio production of Macbeth, starring you and Judi Dench in her most iconic stage performance. To date, the publicity stills look edible.
It is, in my opinion, the most successful adaption of Macbeth. It had no scenery, we just wore these stark costumes. And Shakespeare suits television rather well. Characters can speak directly into the camera, almost like newscasters do. And Judi Dench was very, very good as Lady Macbeth.

Have you seen the latest Macbeth adaptation, starring Michael Fassbender? Critics call it one of the most relevant adaptations
I have, as a matter of fact, seen it. Yes, I did like it, though I think the director was more concerned with how good Scotland looked in the film. Shakespeare is like life itself. He keeps coming back, you see. Which is why it is very important to recreate him, to modernise him. My cousin got married a few years ago, and I asked her, "Can I gift you some towels?" And she said to me, "I already have towels". So yes, a modern context is helpful when it comes to adapting Shakespeare.

In the 1980s, you famously visited Environment Secretary Michael Howard to protest against a homophobic bill that was about to be passed. He didn't concede to your commands, but insisted that you leave an autograph for his kids. Legend goes that you signed off with "F*@k off, I'm gay".
That's not true. I said to a friend later that that is what I ought to have written, and that is how this fictitious anecdote came to be. You know how well-behaved gay people are.

On a live show in Singapore, you did ask the television talk show hostess to recommend some gay bars though. That wasn't very well-behaved.
Now that I did do! I found it preposterous that I was a criminal in Singapore. So I found a nice way to snuggle it in at the end. So, when the talk show hostess was done with the show, she asked me, "So what are you looking to do in Singapore?" And I said, "I'm looking for some decent gay bars here. Can you recommend some?" I think the end credits started rolling a lot faster after that comment. And by the way, I did find a cool gay bar! See, that is the great irony. You can have a dictatorship, you can have laws that criminalise homosexuality, but gay men will find a way to live a life, have fun.

Do you feel the 1980s were a lot more loaded with connotation for the queer community in the West than at present, where there is so much more acceptance?
The 1980s was loaded with context because, with the onset of AIDS, the government was being forced to talk about the sexual act publicly, specifically the gay sexual act. At the same time, they were attempting to pass a bill that would make it illegal to discuss homosexuality with children, which I found deeply offensive. Can you imagine the thousands of lives that could have been ruined with such policies? That was my fight with Michael Howard, who later did publicly apologise, because the point is that the lives of millions are at stake with laws such as these. India is going through what the UK went through 30 years ago. It is appalling and ironical that India would use a colonial law to oppress its homosexuals. India needs to grow up. India needs to realise that it doesn't need to follow British laws any more. But things are changing on other fronts. Kashish, Mumbai's LGBT film festival, is a great example of that.