The Navtej Singh Johar judgment^[1] was a historic landmark ruling that decriminalised homosexual activity in the state, albeit very late, and after years of struggle. However, this does not mean that the stigma surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community has ended.

For the longest time, media has been a mirror of society and has changed drastically with time. A decade ago, having stories centered around queer characters could merely be a dream, and these queer characters were often only an afterthought and a buttload of jokes. They used to further the main character’s storyline, and virtually had no identity of their own.

That has changed for the good over the past few years, with the rise of OTT (over-the-top) streaming platforms. These platforms brought phenomenal international content from countries such as the USA, where the LGBTQIA+ legislation is far more progressive, allowing consumers direct access to content such as Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race, among several others. In addition, these platforms also afforded Indian screenwriters and directors a little more freedom to portray characters and stories that might not have been accepted for the big screen.

Therefore, it is necessary to take a look at some of the most impactful films on LGBITQIA+ characters since the 2018 judgment.^[2]

Shilpa’s Story- Super Deluxe (2019)

One of the four stories of the Tamil-language anthology film Super Deluxe, Shilpa’s story is the most heart-warming. It tells the story of Jyothy, her young son Rasukutty, and her family awaiting the return of her husband, who, to their shock, now identifies as a transgender woman, Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi).

While the rest of the family is disappointed and ashamed, Rasukutty is happy to see his parent and is excited to introduce Shilpa to his friends at school. However, Shilpa faces severe harassment from society, and a corrupt cop named Berlin, who forcefully detains her and sexually abuses her, fetishizing her for being a transgender woman.

Distraught, Shilpa decides to return to Mumbai, where she lived as a hijra.^[3] On her way home, she loses Rasukutty, and after a long and emotional search for him, she finds that he has reached home without her and refuses to talk to her. The heartbroken Rasukutty reveals that he discovered Shilpa’s plan to abandon him and leave for Mumbai. He explains that Shilpa will always be his parent, and his love for her will never waver, whether she wishes to be a man or a woman.

The beauty of this short film lies in the innocence of Rasukutty and his ability to love unconditionally, as he manages to steal hearts with his adorable smile. Portrayed by Vijay Sethupathi, a big name in the Tamil film industry, this story beautifully managed to depict the emotional journey of a family coming to terms with the sexual orientation of a loved one.

However, it would have been more appreciated if a transgender actress had been cast to play the role of Shilpa, as opposed to cishet (cis-gender and heterosexual) actors.

Geeli Pucchi- Ajeeb Daastaans (2021)

Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, Geeli Pucchi is one of the four stories in the anthology film Ajeeb Daastaans and tells the story of one Bharti Mandal, a Dalit and lesbian factory worker. This is also one of the first stories to portray a Dalit lead and is refreshing in its take, as most stories on marginalised communities tend to take a much more gruesome route, where the antagonist becomes victim to the caste system and its horrors.

Bharti Mandal is the only woman working in her factory and is eyeing a promotion at the upper-management office, but is torn to find that the same is given to Priya Sharma (Aditi Rao Hydari), a savarna (meaning “with varna”, or belonging to the varna system) brahmin woman. However, the two women slowly develop feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Priya, also a married woman, is hesitant when she learns of Bharti’s last name, realising that she belongs to a lower caste.

Pained and realising that Priya would never be able to betray her caste, Bharti tactfully takes revenge by convincing Priya to conceive a child with her husband to save her marriage. She ultimately pushes her to stay at home and care for her family, nabbing the promotion in her stead.

Portrayed by Konkona Sen Sharma, Bharti’s character beautifully and unapologetically depicts the interplay between caste and sexuality and that of a morally gray character who is manipulative to get what she wants.

However, the only drawback is that as a member of the Dalit community himself, director Neeraj Ghaywan had the opportunity and the freedom to cast a Dalit actress to play Bharti’s role, or queer actors playing the queer characters on screen for a more accurate representation.

Badhaai Do (2022)

Set in the small town of Dehradun, Badhaai Do tells the story of Shardul Thakur (Rajkumar Rao), a closeted gay cop, and Suman Singh (Bhumi Pednekar), a closeted lesbian physical education instructor at a local school, who enter into a marriage of convenience to ward off their families from forcing them to enter into arranged marriages with members of the opposite sexes, respectively.

Both come from traditional families worried that their children are not married even though they have entered their 30s. Shardul and Suman agree to get married on paper and live together (albeit in separate rooms), but continue with their respective dating lives.

While the families eventually start pressuring them to have children (who Suman is fond of, but is unable to adopt due to her sexuality^[4]), the secret eventually comes out and leads to some incredibly emotional and heart-wrenching confrontations with their families. The movie ends with Shardul and Suman agreeing to remain legally married so that they may adopt a child and raise it with their respective same-sex partners, and the families eventually accept them.

Badhaai Do is the first Hindi-language film to depict a gay and lesbian character together, and has managed to do so in a way that does not succumb to stereotypes, and is respectful. It is also extremely relatable in the way that it portrays romantic relationships and heartbreaks amongst same-sex couples, and is a delightful film.  

However, the only criticism remains that the film has failed to cast non-cishet actors to play non-cishet characters, which would have led to a much more accurate and palatable representation.

Conclusion

While Indian Cinema has made remarkable progress in the accurate portrayal of queer characters, there have also been releases such as Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019), and Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan (2020), which, with their poor writing, have overdramatized the whole coming out experience of a queer person for the sake of views, where the actual story and its nuances tend to get lost in translation.

However, the one thing that all of these aforementioned films have done, if not anything, is start conversations in everyday households about the possibility of a family member being queer, and that it would not mean the end of the world. It has started conversations about tolerance and acceptance, which will eventually and hopefully normalise being queer in Indian households. It has also forced audiences to look inward and introspect, and pay more attention to queer-related legislation and policies in India, or the lack thereof.

It can only be hoped that queer persons will be given more accurate representation in the forthcoming years, which must begin my casting queer persons to play queer characters on screen, which is the one common area of criticism in all of the aforementioned titles.

However, art is indeed an imitation of society It is wondrous that cinema today portrays topics that would have been simply unimaginable ten years ago, and that is immeasurable progress.