OTTplay Logo
settings icon
profile icon
  • Home
  • Listicles
  • Pride Month 2022: 5 Indian movies that portray queer stories through a sensitive lens

Pride Month 2022: 5 Indian movies that portray queer stories through a sensitive lens

From Fire to Aligarh, these films successfully managed to depict queer lives on screen sensitively.

Pride Month 2022: 5 Indian movies that portray queer stories through a sensitive lens
undefined
Shilpa S

Last Updated:

Share

Pride Month is upon us, and queer stories are slowly gaining some much needed silver screen depictions that give them the representation that has been long overdue. The silver screen has not been kind to the LGBTQ community, often treating them insensitively through crude jokes and wildly inaccurate depictions. Nowadays, filmmakers seemed to have learnt from past mistakes, as more and more movies have started to come up that realistically try to capture the essence of queer lives, leading to much more authentic representations of the community on screen. Here are a few such Indian films that have sucessfully represented queer lives through a sensitive lens:

1

Fire

7.3
Deepa Mehta’s Fire was nothing short of a groundbreaking film in Indian cinema, becoming one of the first mainstream Bollywood films to revolve around the story of a lesbian relationship. The 1997 film stars Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, as sisters-in -law who find themselves forced to live in stifling circumstances in their husbands’ house. Bonding over their mutual turmoil, the two enter into a relationship. The film witnessed its fair share of controversies over its subject matter and sparked conversations about queer representaion on screen.
2

Badhaai Do

7.4
Badhaai Do sees its protagonists having to come to an arrangement that a plethora of queer people are forced to be in due to their circumstances. The film follows the story of Shardul and Sumi, a gay man and a lesbian who enter into a lavender marriage or a marriage of convenience to avoid outing themselves to their orthodox families. The 2022 film, directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni, stars Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar in lead roles.

where
to Watch

3

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

6
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga follows the story of a young woman named Sweety who finds herself in a difficult situation as she struggles to come out to her orthodox family. Her problems are compounded when a young man falls in love with her, and her family decide to do everything in their power to keep her away from the man. The film, directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar, stars Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao.

where
to Watch

4

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

6.2
This 2020 film tells the story of a gay couple, Aman and Kartik, who are put through the ringer when their orthodox families find out about their relationship. After their secret comes out, they are forced to pull out all the stops to try and convince their families to accept their relationship, leading to some difficult conversations. The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Maanvi Gagroo in lead roles.

where
to Watch

5

Aligarh

8.3
Aligarh tells the gut wrenching true story of Ramchandra Siras, a gay professor at the Aligarh Muslim University, who is outed against his will when people forced themselves into his home. Due to the incident, the professor loses his job and suffers many setbacks in his life. He is helped to fight his case in court by a journalist. The film was directed by Hansal Mehta and stars Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao.

where
to Watch

  • Airtel Xstream

    free for airtel tv customers

    Watch Now

  • Eros Now

    49 rupees per year

    Watch Now

  • See All


Stay Updated :Download App
all_platform_web

Get the latest updates in your inbox

Follow us
Download app
Get the latest updates in your inbox
Take your watchlist wherever you go
Partner sites: Hindustan Times · Live Hindustan · Live Mint· Desimartini · Shine · Healthshots · Slurrp
© 2023 OTTplay, HT Media Labs. All rights reserved.