It feels liberating when films and shows leverage their potential to traverse through the raw and real issues that our society often tries to put a blanket on.
Amazon Prime Video recently served us with a ten-episode legal drama series called Guilty Minds, helmed by Shefali Bhushan that explored morality inside the courtroom and offered us flavours of human emotions outside the legal doors.
Centred on two lawyers Kashaf Quaze (Shriya Pilgaonkar) and Deepak Rana (Varun Mitra), the narrative of this show was also spurred by the plot of Kashaf’s friend-turned-associate lawyer Vandana (Sugandha Garg) and her girlfriend Sunanda or Nandu (Chitrangada Satarupa).
Despite being an independent and flourishing woman, Nandu, who lives with her partner Vandana, keeps her homosexuality a secret from her mother, who perpetually insists on her marrying a man with a handsome ‘package.’
Her mother, being a subscriber of the log-kya-kahenge mindset, bulldozes her into meeting men and eventually learns about her sexuality from strangers. Next, her mother storms into their home and lashes out at her daughter’s partner Vandana.
And when she said that she’s ashamed of Nandu’s sexuality, the latter feels triggered to finally confront her mother, something that she had been withholding within herself for a long time.
Although Nandu wept copiously, she plucked up the courage to not only stand up for herself but also for the love of her life, with no inhibitions whatsoever.
When society already expects the LGBTQ community to fit into the straightjacket of its suffocating conventions (pun intended), the very least they can hope for is their parents becoming their staunchest ally.
Guilty Minds, although wasn’t solely focused on this subject, encapsulated the uphill battle of queer individuals succinctly and with much grace.
All images are screenshots from Amazon Prime Video unless specified otherwise.