Happy Pride! Not a lot out there for representation of Queerness in Indian film, but I will highlight what I can.
Dostana, of course. Ignore the Three’s Company style premise, focus on Boman Irani, the American immigration agent, all the other positive Queer characters. And the generally Queer friendly environment. And that hot kiss.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. I like this movie anyway, but there is a very matter of fact treatment of a plot point that Priety’s male best friend has a crush on Bobby Deol.
Honeymoon Travels Private Lmtd. This one is depressingly realistic. The ending for our gay characters isn’t a big dramatic tragedy, but it isn’t exactly happy either.
Bombay Talkies. Watch it! Especially the first and the third sections. It will break your heart, but it is also really beautiful. And it’s on Netflix!
There’s also Fire, Dunno Y Jaane Q and various others of the lower budget variety. But for major mainstream Hindi representations, these are the first ones that come to mind.
If you are open to against the grain readings, slightly more options. Zanjeer (Pran and Amitabh) and Silsila (Shashi and Amitabh), of course. For the ladies, you can watch “Choli Ke Peeche” from Khalnayak and “Pardesi” from Raja Hindustani and try to figure out what the heck is going on between those two women. And, of course, anything with Saif and Akshay.
And then there’s “Yeh Dosti”, which has been used at various pride parades already, it is so perfect for an out and proud anthem.
dontcallitbollywood 
I watch Bombay talkies everytime I want a good cry. Or when I want to remind myself of the true caliber and extent of Karan Johar’s talent when given free reign. Ooooh ajeeb dastaan hain yeh… kahan shuru kahan khatam..
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That’s part of why I love it! To be able to say “Look! See! This is Karan too.” The quality of the film, which rivals or improves on the kind of film all those fancy artsy directors who sneer at him can put out. But also the anger of the message, which serves as a slap in the face to everyone who thinks that Karan has a charmed life just because he made a few successful movies.
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Don’t forget Aligarh! Another one that is not super upbeat (to say the very least) but an important one, I think. Outside the mainstream, there’s I Am and Fire.
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Yes, Aligarh! Another one of the “etc. etc.” low budget ones.
On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 1:24 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh, and one of the most popular films of 2016 . . . not sure if I should say the name, but surely everyone’s been spoiled already?
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Well, “popular”. It did well overseas and in the multiplexes, but the 90% of the Indian population who doesn’t go to those theaters still wasn’t quite ready to see it.
And boy, now I don’t know if I want to say the name or not! It’s handled so well in the film, letting it slowly dawn on the audience.
On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 1:26 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t know what this is about. Would you mind telling me the name of this movie Meredith? Maybe on a different post so we don’t spoil folks reading this one? Please?
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I can’t believe I called you Meredith! Sorry – Margaret.
Sorry, too many Grey’s Anatomy reruns over the weekend. Sorry.
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That’s cool! One of my good friends is named Meredith, so it gave me a real smiley feeling to think of her.
The movie from last year, let’s see, it’s the one that I gave Siddharth the award for worst actor of 2016 for.
On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 10:26 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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