By NOOR-JEHAN YORO BADAT

On the tiled rooftop of XM's offices Hector, an architect, and China, a successful businessman, sit shoulder to shoulder and talk.

Hector, holding a bottle of wine, lights up a cigarette. They gaze into each other's eyes, their desire for each other nakedly clear, and then they share a passionate kiss.

Scene ends.

So closes the first episode of His Story - After Nine, a new local TV mini-series commissioned by SABC1, which will be aired from Thursday.

The series, to be broadcast in Zulu, Tswana and English, with English subtitles, and produced by Lesego Majatladi and Sechaba Morejele, explores the sensitive issues surrounding China (played by Lucky Khoza), a gay black man in a heterosexual relationship, who secretly delves into his sexual preferences. It touches on his inner struggles, his double life, and society's and his family's expectations of him.

Majatladi says that, in producing After Nine, the brief given to him by the SABC was to explore "the different ways masculinity is expressed and what challenges men face in contemporary society in defining their masculinity".

"In a weird way the story was inspired through a conversation with a friend," says Majatladi.

"He works for a law firm in Jo'burg and he talked about how to advance one's career in certain professions, how being married is an advantage. You are seen to be reliable, more rooted, more focused.

"And in another conversation another person spoke about how men have much more to lose when they have children.

"It got me thinking about what heterosexual marriage represents to broader society, so I started researching," he says.

Through research, focus groups and talks with story consultants, Majatladi stumbled upon an issue that has often been overlooked because of societal norms.

There was always someone who knew of men who were gay but made the choice against being openly gay so as not to jeopardise their social standing and professional standing, he says.

"I was quite surprised when I socialised with people and I would talk about this storyline, and they would say: 'I know someone like that'."

Though the series is played out in a world of his design, the truth isn't too far off. "It's quite real," says Majatladi.

"My objective was to stay true to the character as much as possible. I didn't want to do a documentary on being gay or being an 'after nine'."

But, what is an "after nine"?

"They are gay people who choose to live heterosexual lives," explains Majatladi. "From morning till nine (pm) they are straight. After nine they come out, as it were.

"These are guys who are not confused about their sexuality; they are clear about their sexual orientation, but they choose to suppress it and choose to compromise. From sun-up they are straight, and at sundown they come out."

What kind of reaction does he expect, especially from the black community?

"I have no idea. I suspect I might be a bit na?ve in terms of my expectations about the reactions. But I am more curious about what it will be. I do expect a backlash from various quarters - cultural, religious or somewhere in the middle - which is fine. I don't expect everybody to like it; if you create what everybody likes, it would be wrong."

He hopes, however, that there won't be an outcry that would leave no room for discussion. "I want a robust debate."

Writer and film director Fanney Tsimong, who was Majatladi's story consultant on After Nine, says he didn't find the original script appealing.

"The script was stereotypical, (originally) one of the guys committed suicide. But in this day and age, people don't really do that because of their sexuality. The gay people within themselves are a family and a community.

"When I came on board I laid down all those issues," says Tsimong.

With a little tweak here and there "we brought in reality to the script", he adds.

"If you bring reality to a story, you have to have facts. We have gay clubs. Bring small elements that show it is a gay club; you don't have to go the extra mile to reveal extra stuff. Those are realities that were brought in the script."

Chatting further about the label "after nine", Tsimong says the phrase is township slang "given to people like straight guys who are married or date women but want to explore homosexuality".

"It is happening, and it's not a myth. Certain people have arranged marriages; they know they are gay but they get married because of what people will say. After seeing this, it will hit home. I look forward to an open debate," says Tsimong.