Ranojoy Bishnu on Vidhaan: My gay character in the film has made me more empathetic towards the LGBTQIA+ community

After working in Suvendu Raj Ghosh’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ranojoy Bishnu is all geared up with his second Bollywood outing, Vidhaan. In the film, the actor is seen as a gay man, who falls in love with a male sex worker. Directed by Manoj Rai, the film also features Anuj Jain, Ankit Jaiswal, and Rohan Verma. In a chat with OTTplay, he talked about his experience of playing a gay character. 

He confessed that playing this character has been a journey for him in terms of being more understanding and empathetic towards the community. Ranojoy comes from a small town, Madhyamgram, Bengal, where homosexuality is treated with a lot of reservations. It was not easy for him to understand the plight of a gay man, he said. “I am a straight person and I had absolutely no reference of falling for a man. Moreover, I come from the small town of Madhyamgram, West Bengal, where homosexuality is still considered an abnormality. It is even a taboo to talk about it openly even today,” said the actor. 

Ranojoy also admits that after playing the character, he realises how the members of the LGBTQIA+ community suffer every day. “A bi-curious or homosexual person is as normal as we all are. But society stereotypes them as effeminate and whatnot! We refuse to understand that a gay man can exuberate maleness as much as a straight man can. Every day they have to prove that they are as normal as us. It is painful to see their plight,” he explains. 

Meanwhile, several of Ranojoy’s films, including Shimanto, Taranga, Bonobibi, Chhaad, and Dhuusar, are set to release this year.

Ranojoy also confessed that it was after he joined the Film industry that his perception started changing. “I met friends, who are not straight people. I started becoming more sensitive. Hence, when I got the character, I spoke with my gay friends to understand their romance and emotion,” the actor said.