By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

“Nina’s Heavenly Delights” (here!/Regent)—Pratibha Parmar’s “Nina’s Heavenly Delights” begins with the death of a beloved father and follows a queer character’s struggles with coming out in the aftermath.

Nina (Shelly Conn), who’s lived in London for three years after leaving her intended Sanjay (Raji James) at the altar, returns to her family’s home in Glasgow, Scotland for her father Mohan’s (Raad Rawi) funeral. Mohan, who had a serious gambling problem, lost his share of his popular restaurant The New Taj in a bet, but Nina, who inherited his love of cooking, isn’t going to give up that easily. Enlisting Lisa (Laura Fraser), who she’s attracted to but who she thinks is her brother Kary’s (Atta Yaqub) girlfriend, in her mission to win the televised Best of the West Curry Competition, Nina sets out to reverse her fortune.

Of course, the secret to any good recipe is the kitchen chemistry and Nina is unable to find the right blend of ingredients. Part of the problem is carrying around the secret of her sexuality but, as she soon discovers, Kary, her sister Priya (Zoe Henretty) and even her mother have secrets. With the encouragement of gay best friend Bobbi (Ronny Jhutti), Nina shoots for the stars. The lesson is that “no matter what the recipe says, always follow your heart.” Unrated DVD bonus features include a “making of” featurette, production commentary and a photo gallery.

“Not | Gay” (Frameline)—Shorts compilations are often a risky proposition and “Not | Gay” is no exception.

Two of the four shorts compiled here are worth looking into while the other two are somewhat less strongly recommended. The two suggested shorts are “The Best Men” and “Float.” The line “all the best men are gay” has never been truer than in the case of “The Best Men,” in which model-handsome Pete stands up at the wedding of Joe, an old flame. Drinking champagne in a hotel room on the night before the nuptials, they exchange gifts (a ring and a DVD) and get tangled in an embrace that lasts too long, but not long enough to stop Joe from going through with his wedding, whether or not he’s happy.

“Float” takes us to the Bahamas, where homophobia is rampant and homophobes unrepentant. Johnny, a gay painter and persistent hand-washer, is given a ticket to escape nasty Nassau for the isle of Eleuthera, where he hopes he will get some serious painting done. While there he meets the aptly named Romeo, who is on the down low in the hostile environment. Their mutual attraction is apparent, but you’ll have to see for yourself if their love can survive.

Set in Brazil, the narrated “Cowboy Forever” suggests the possibility of a relationship between cattle drivers Govinda (named by his Hare Krishna father) and Jones (possessor of the “Cowboy Forever” tattoo of the title). Jesse Schoem plays twin brothers Skye and Leif in writer/director Scott Boswell’s “Katydid.” The competitive twins’ relationship is so unpleasant that it’s hard to not to hope for a little less man-on-man action and a little more fratricide.