LGBT Movies that were Done Right in Bollywood

While India, as a country, has come a long way in terms of how we function as a society, there still lie certain aspects that we’re way behind from where we should be i.e our perception towards the LGBT community. Indians, for some reason, consider it to be unnatural for a man to not love another woman and vice versa. Even thought the government of India has officially declared to have no qualms over it, that thinking has not yet transpired in the minds of people. Ayushmann Khurrana’s next film Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan deals with this very thinking of society. The trailer dropped on the internet today and looks every bit entertaining along with portraying an important message. However, there have been several LGBT movies from Bollywood in the past that have tried to put forward this message. Scroll below to read about more such films that tried to take a stance on the issue…

1.Kapoor and Sons

Kapoor and Sons was a film that revolved around a dysfunctional family who are always out to slit each other's throats but also love each other more than anything in the world. Rahul Kapoor (Fawad Khan) and Arjun Kapoor (Sidharth Malhotra) are two brothers who really don’t get along with each other. They are constantly arguing over the pettiest of issues. Things in the family grow even worse Rahul’s mother Sunita Kapoor (Rathna Pathak Shah) is horrified to discover intimate photos of her son and his boyfriend. Rahul’s sexuality was just one layer of the family drama that made it a must-watch.

LGBT Movie Bollywood Kapoor And Sons

During the release of the LGBT movie, Fawad spoke about why it should be normal for an actor to play such a role. He said, “Even if someone plays a character like that, why will he or she become an outcast? Give it some years, and things will become normal. In the future, everyone who gets worried about these things (homosexuality) will learn to accept them. If someone is a certain way, he or she just is.”

We agree with every word there, Fawad!

2. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga was another mainstream Bollywood LGBT movie that featured a big star representing the LGBT community. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja played the role of Sweety Chaudhary, the daughter of a fun-loving and traditional Punjabi family. Ever since Sweety was a young girl, she dreamed of being a bride. But, when she grows up, she realises that although she wants to be a bride, it’s not the same way she imagined. When Sweety ends up rejecting all the suitors picked by her parents Balbir Chaudhry (Anil Kapoor) and Chatro (Juhi Chawla), they get a hint about her reason behind it.

It is later revealed that Sweety is in love with a woman, Kuhu (Regina Cassandra). While initially, her father does not take the news well, he realises that she’s the same daughter he’s loved all along. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga was the first mainstream LGBT movie since the lifting of Section 377.

LGBT Movie

3. Bombay Talkies

Bombay Talkies was anthology which brought together four supremely talented Bollywood directors together - Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap. Karan Johar’s segment, Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh revolved around a gay man named Avinash (Saqib Saleem). After years of being tortured by the hand of a homophobic father, he leaves home to start fresh. He secures an internship in a popular magazine and gets close to a colleague named Gayatri (Rani Mukerji). Gayatri invites him over for dinner where he meets her husband Dev (Randeep Hooda) who is a closeted homosexual. Later, Dev gathers the courage to come out of the closet and the LGBT movie ends with him and Avinash sharing a passionate kiss.

LGBT Movie Bombay Talkies

The scene sparked many conversations in the media to which Saqib Saleem replied saying, “In my first film, I kissed a girl and nobody said anything on that. Now in my third film, I kissed a guy and the media has made a hue and cry about it. I am an actor so I have to do my work and going beyond societal norms. I wanted to play that character well so that it doesn’t portray homosexuals in a negative light.”

LGBT Movie Bollywood

The LGBT movie also sheds some much important light on the dark reality of closeted abusers.

4. Aligarh (2016)

Directed by Hansal Mehta, Aligrah was a LGBT movie based on a true story depicting the tragic life of Professor Ramchandra Siras (Manoj Bajpayee). Siras was the heading the department of Classical Modern Indian Languages Faculty at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Once, a local news channel barge into his home and finds him having sex with a rickshaw puller. That incident ends up changing his life forever. He’s sacked by his university and is ridiculed by society. LGBT Movie Aligarh

He puts himself into a shell until a journalist named Deepu Sebastian (Rajkummar Rao) learns about his story and comes forward to offer him help.

LGBT Movie Bollywood

5. My Brother Nikhil (2005)

Set in Goa back in the 90s, in the LGBT movie, we see the story of Nikhil Kapoor (Sanjay Suri), a state level swimmer who is loved and adored by his family. Things take a turn when Nikhil is diagnosed with HIV. Everyone other than his sister Anamika (Juhi Chawla) and boyfriend Nigel (Purab Kohli) turn against him.

LGBT Movie My Brother Nikhil

In fact, the laws back in the day were so disgraceful that Goa Public Health Act permitted the police to arrest him and kept in isolation. Nigel and Anamika get Nikhil released eventually and kick start an AIDS assistance organization called People Positive. He also is accepted by his parents later on. After Nikhil’s death in the LGBT movie, his parents begin to treat Nigel like their own son.

LGBT Movies Bollywood