5 Bollywood Movies That Got Queer Relationships Right

Cinema is a powerful medium, which can help shape social narratives that sensitise audiences to a variety of issues. A proper depiction of something as essential as the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community has been a rarity in Indian cinema, especially in Bollywood. They are often used to get a cheap laugh and not given any depth whatsoever. These five films, while still lacking in true representation of queer folks, had socially impactful plots that have helped shift the gaze on the LGBTQ+ community.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

A Shelly Chopra Dhar directorial, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga depicts the reality that several LGBTQ+ individuals face while coming out of the closet such as alienation, isolation, and embarrassment. The movie narrates the story of Sweety (Sonam Kapoor) whose family suspects that she is actually in love with a Muslim man (Rajkummar Rao). Sweety hails from a small town in Punjab and her family is like most middle-class families in India, who don’t accept queer relationships. However, the story unravels when Sweety rebels against the taboos beliefs and breaks through societal barriers.

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Margarita With A Straw

The movie showcases the character of a disabled woman who is discovering her sexuality. The story revolves around Laila (Kalki Koechlin), an Indian woman with cerebral palsy, who falls madly in love with a blind Pakistani girl (Sayani Gupta). Directed by Shonali Bose, Margarita With A Straw was not afraid to show intimate scenes and a love story between a disabled same-sex couple. This is one the best performances by Koechlin to date. Despite not being a commercial success, this movie was lauded by the audience for showing a love that went beyond the narrow confines of sexuality and ableism.

Cobalt Blue

Based on Sachin Kundalkar’s novel of the same name, Cobalt Blue is a story of two siblings – Tanay (Neelay Mehendale) and Anuja (Anjali Sivaraman). Both of them fall for their new paying guest (Prateik Babbar), who abandons them in the end without any explanation.

The film impressed viewers for not shying away from exploring Tanay’s relationship. Set in the olden days, it explores queer relationships at a time when they were strictly prohibited. The duo’s romance is naive, sensual, and extremely intimate. It liberates Tanay from the shackles of a heteronormative society as he explores his queer identity. Tanay and the guest’s relationship is beautifully contrasted with the uncomfortable relationship shared by Tanay and his professor (Neil Bhoopalam), an older gay man who becomes dominating over time.

Fire

Deepa Mehta’s Fire is a gem of a film as it is one of the first Bollywood films that explores the themes of homosexuality. It also focuses primarily on women, who not only face discrimination based on sexuality, but severe oppression in the face of a patriarchal society. Loosely based on Ismat Chugtai’s story Lihaaf (1942), the film narrates the story of two women, Sita (Nandita Das) and Radha (Shabana Azmi), who are stuck in unhappy marriages.

Radha is subjugated to take care of her husband Ashok and his mother. She is unable to procreate and play the role of a mother. On the other hand we have Sita, a progressive woman whose husband is seeing another woman. Their relationship with each other is the way towards their empowerment and experiencing a love they both deserve, but can’t get from their husbands. It aptly represents the denial of a woman’s agency due to patriarchal structures, which objectify women and ensure the suppression of their sexuality.

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Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

This is one of the few films that treats gayness as a cause for celebration instead of something shameful and humiliating. Starring Ayushmann Khurrana as Kartik and Jitendra Kumar as Aman, the film from the get-go is proud of its two gay characters. It is also crucial to point out that the humour in the movie is always directed towards those grappling with old-age ideas of sexuality (Aman’s family), instead of the same-sex couple. The lovers never become the target of humiliation, which Bollywood is infamous for showing.