The stage of experimenting with making movies on the subject of same sex love is clearly over by now. An accepting audience has encouraged filmmakers to go bolder with the subject. Earlier in the year, expressing happiness that Indian films are finally heading in the right direction when it comes to inclusivity and sensitive portrayal of the LGBTQ community, Parmesh Shahani, author of Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace, had told ZeeZest.com, “It’s very important for well-meaning allies of the queer community to start collaborating more and more with the latter.”
Here are some movies and OTT shows that tackled the issue with sensitivity.
Badhai Do
Gay police inspector Shardul (Rajkummar Rao) and Sumi (Bhumi Pednekar), a lesbian and a physical education teacher settle for a marriage of compromise to appease their respective families. The movie really spoke about not just coming out to your parents but also things like the possibility of LGBTQ marriage and having children. The Harshavardhan Kulkarni-directorial showcased an interesting queer future in a very mainstream manner.
Moothon
This Telugu movie is Mollywood’s most compelling exploration of a homosexual romance. It tackles the difficulty of accepting one’s sexuality, particularly from the perspective of a disabled person. Amir and Akbar’s depiction is a positive reinforcement that words are not needed in matters of love. Beyond that, it explores issues that pertain to gender, sexuality, and identity in an earnest way and how society tries to put down those who try to defy the norms.
Naanu Ladies
This Kannada film is a dark comedy that follows the journey of two women, Anita, an aspiring actress, and Padma, a budding painter, as they fall passionately in love. In order to stay together, they have to endure cultural and familial hurdles. When the realities of life hit the struggling artists hard love does not always seem to be enough. The film explores how these two artists in love blossoms and the challenge heteronormative norms. The film attempts to challenge all of the existing systems in society from beauty standards to the family structure.
