With growing time, the Bollywood industry has also decided to widen its diversity. And to widen the diversity, the industry has started portraying and educating the audience about some social issues. Thrashing deep-rooted social stereotypes, the industry is credited for educating the coming generation. The one community about which the industry has been talking the most recently is the LGBTQ. Community. For the unversed, LGBTQIA+ is an evolving acronym that loosely defines the grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Here we bring you a look at the top 10 Bollywood movies that aptly portrayed LGBTQ Diversity and their struggle:
1. Aligarh: One of the cult classics of the Bollywood industry, Aligarh witnesses the master class acting performance of Manoj Bajpayee. Helmed by Hansal Mehta, the movie is based on the real-life story of ANU professor Professor Ramchandra Siras. The depiction of the struggle a person has to go throw in Indian society will surely make your eyes watery.
2. Badhai Do: Badhai Do is the latest entry in this list. The most is the story of Shardul, a gay man, and Sumi, a lesbian woman, who get married just to put a full stop at the peer pressure of getting married. While acting like husband and wife, Sumi finds the love of her life and motivates Shardul to step out of the social norms and accept his sexuality in front of this world.
3. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga: Ek Ladki ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is one of the few LGBTQ movies in mainstream Bollywood. Starring Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in lead, the movie is the story of a Punjabi girl sweety, who has always dreamt of becoming a bride but keeps rejecting every marriage offer. And then eventually a guy in her life, with whom she can openly confess the real reason for rejecting the marriage offer.
4. Chandigarh Kare Ashiqui: Bollywood is often seen talking about gay men and women, but this was the first when the light spotted on the life transwomen. With Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor in lead, the movie is the love story of a typical Punjabi guy who falls in love with a transwoman. But the earth crumbles beneath his feet when he gets to know that the person he was loving is actually a transwoman.
5. Shubh Mangal Jyada Savdhan: There is no denying that Shubh Mangal Jyada Savdhan is one of the few full-fleshed movies on gay lovers. The tale of two guys who fall in love and fight every rock between their love to live a happy life is nothing less than a dose of entertainment with a good social message.
6. Fire: Back in 1996, Deepa Mehta decided to educate the audience about same-sex love by producing a movie on lesbian lovers. Titled Fire, the movie is the story of a suppressed housewife Radha who finds her comfort and love in his sister-in-law Sita. But as soon as the movie hit the theater, members of the political party Shiv Sena vandalized the theater where the movie was running. This violence made the censor board ban the screening of the movie.
7. 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. 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.
8. Bombay Talkies: Bombay Talkies is one of the few iconic anthologies ever nurtured in the Bollywood industry. The anthology featured 4 short stories from 4 different directors but the one story which came out to be the loudest was by Karan Johar. With Randeep Hooda and Rani Mukherjee in lead, the story of a busy Mumbai couple, where the husband is a closet gay. Portraying how romance gets sour between the couple, the movie showcases the struggle of a gay man.
9. My Brother Nikhil: 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.
10. Margarita with a straw: Kalki Koechlin flooded everyone with her performance in 'Margarita with a straw' where she plays the role of a person with cerebral palsy, who falls in love with a woman. The movie deals with disability, bisexuality, and how little is understood of the community.
