It’s soul-crushing to see how the LGBTQ community is still facing the brickbats for what is a natural process of life: falling in love; just because they don’t fit the model that the society has designed for them.
Some have their parents’ support or some are thoroughly backed by their partners, while others have none. So, pulling the curtain off one’s sexuality is never easy unless you have a truck full of courage and a no-nonsense attitude towards the outrageous reactions.
Amidst the Bollywood films that continue to pass ignorant slurs, some films and shows are doing a laudable job at shattering societal taboos. We have compiled the best coming-out scenes from Hindi shows and movies that are everything between brutal and touching.
1. Badhaai Do
In Badhaai Do, Shardul and Sumi, being homosexuals, enter into a lavender marriage when the family pressure goes berserk. When Sumi’s is accidently revealed, their fabricated marital life crumbles like a house of cards. Shardul, still, remains silent for a while but when his family begins to ridicule Sumi, he plucks up the courage to announce his identity in front of his entire family.
2. The Fame Game
The manner in which Anamika accepts her son’s sexuality in The Fame Game is perhaps one of the most poignant parent-child scenes in Bollywood. Only when she asks him compassionately, “Are you gay?” does her son come out as homosexual. She not only embraced him without being melodramatic, but she also reassured him that he would be loved regardless of his sexual orientation.
3. Made In Heaven
In an extremely touching sequence, Karan gains the confidence to confront his first abuser, thanks to his father’s backing. He tells her about the mental trauma her physical violence and lack of support had on him as a child, addressing his deepest fears.
4. Chandigarh Kare Aashique
Right from foolishly gushing in love to ferociously expressing that love, Manu and Maanvi have it all until the truth bomb is dropped. Maanvi reveals her reality to a guy who is ignorant to a point that he can only associate trans with music. Yet, she musters up the guts and gets ready to face the consequences head on.
5. Four More Shots Please!
Bani J’s character in the show, as I see it, is very well crafted. She hassled all her life to live on her own terms, yet couldn’t tell her family about her sexuality until she did. She was proud of who she is and who she loves and declares it unabashedly in front of her family and the world.
6. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga
This film highlighted the plight of queer community in small towns when few in Bollywood dared to do so. Sonam’s character even manufactured false claims about her relationship in order to escape marriage. This scene perfectly encapsulated the pain, adversity, and idea of ‘giving explanations’ to the world for simply loving someone. Brownie points for the final scene, in which her father accepts her sexuality unconditionally!
7. Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan
Although lighthearted, this film underlined how a person, regardless of sexuality, may go to great lengths to be with their love. The scenes will make you chuckle, but the dialogues woven into them will make you realise what they are going through. Bollywood got it right with this Ayushmann and Jitendra-starrer!
