I really have a very small list of Queer films, now that I think about it. I should fix that! Y’all give me things to watch.
Doesn’t have to be Indian, this is just a fun recommendation post. But probably if you want to suggest things we all will like, think about Queer movies that are like Indian movies. Light, romantic, and so on. Not so much Anger and Death and Despair.
Signature Move
Haven’t seen this myself, but I want to see it and I bet you will too when I describe it. A young desi American woman who looks after her TV obsessed mother (played by Shabana Azmi) starts getting into Mexican wrestling, and falls in love with a fellow female performer. And it’s set in Chicago, The Best City. I suppose this could turn out to not be a good movie, but it seems very unlikely. Oh, and it’s on googleplay and itunes and stuff, so you can rent it and the money will go straight to the filmmakers, which is nice.
Kissing Jessica Stein
Forget the Queer part, even if this was a Straight romance, this would still be a really interesting different movie. It was written by the star to give herself the sort of leading role actresses don’t get. It’s a love story about how sometimes a relationship can kind of shake up your whole life and make it better in surprising ways. And on top of that, a very different sort of Queer story, a new take on “coming out” and that whole journey. Just a good interesting movie.
But I’m a Cheerleader
A comedy about a really not funny topic, the teen “pray the gay away” camps. But then laughing at them because they are truly a ridiculous concept is an important part of making them go away. Also, the teen romance in this movie is really sweet and nice.
Shoot, why can’t I think of a fun rom-com that is male? All I can think of is a more dramatic and less fun option. Oh well.
Latter Days
Happy ending, don’t worry, but quite a bit of romantic angst along the way. Party Boy makes a bet he can seduce one of the Mormon missionaries who moves in next door to his apartment. You can see where this is going, right? Very romantic, very tormented and back and forth, more on the Devdas side of things.
Okay, recommend me some other movies! I need to expand my “fun light happy queer romance” selection past the early 2000s!
dontcallitbollywood 
Alice Wu’s Saving Face. It is good drama with a happy ending. Same director as The Half of It.
Tamil film Goa has a gay couple among the many couples in the movie. Rare Tamil that is not fully homophobic.
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“But I’m a Cheerleader” is one of the best movies of its genre. If there is a genre that entails “pray the gay away” subversive comedy.
I’m gonna go SUPER OLD SCHOOL and say that my two favorite queer films (remember these are old school and not hyper woke like you kids today) are The Birdcage and In and Out. Read your history hahaha
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So glad I’m not ridiculously out of date for liking But I’m a Cheerleader!
Speaking of kids, Birdcage and In ‘n Out were the movies I watched with my family as a kid. So glad to hear someone else still likes them too! And they aren’t just kid stuff. They are also my first choices for Indian remakes, so family-y. My only challenge is casting, they are such great roles for men-of-a-certain-age, I can’t decide who is best.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 7:35 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Rishi would have been great in Nathan Lane’s role in Birdcage.
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Aw, you’re right.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 8:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You know I am always going to push Imagine Me & You! It is so great. Others I recently watched and really enjoyed, Nina’s Heavenly Diaries (thanks for the recommendation, Eve) and I Can’t Think Straight. I would be so curious as to what you think of I Can’t Think Straight. It is written and directed by a British woman of South Asian and South African heritage who is married to a Jordanian-born, British-based woman of Palestinian origin who is also the producer of the movie partially based on their experience. It was cheesy, it was sexy, it was romantic, I loved it.
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Glad you liked it.
I was going to mention Imagine Me & You. That and Nina’s Heavenly Delights are the two decent really light lesbian rom-coms I can think of, with minimal coming out drama and general darkness. But I’m a Cheerleader is fun too, despite tackling a real problem.
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Agreed. I love I’m a Cheerleader too. It’s a classic to me, just like The Birdcage. Have you seen I Can’t Think Straight? I thought it was adorable. Next on my list is The World Unseen by the same director-writer if I Can’t Think Straight.
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I’ve seen both her movies. I remember them as good films, just not quite as light and basically topic-free as the others above.
I think what I like about Imagine Me & You and Nina’s Heavenly Delights is that the basic story would work with straight characters, too.
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Just watched Imagine Me & You yesterday, and I also loved how light it was, and romantic. They didn’t even commit to whether Piper Perabo’s character was gay or not. Just that she fell in love at first sight with someone.
On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 12:31 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Maybe I should celebrate Pride by sitting in my air conditioned bedroom and binging light happy Lesbian rom-coms!
On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 9:44 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That is exactly what I am in the process of doing this weekend and it is making me so happy.
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Well, I just added I Can’t Think Straight to my Prime watchlist, and now Prime is helpfully suggesting all kinds of other fun movies for me!
On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 10:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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“I Can’t Think Straight” is such an amazing title. I know nothing about the movie, but that title stuck in my mind from having heard it like one time before. It just immediately gives you the feel of romance and sexiness and happiness and lightness.
On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 8:43 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Watch it!!! I regret just renting it because now I am going to have to buy it.
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The Way He Looks! The most adorable, beautiful, boy-boy teen romance ever. A Brazilian film about a blind high school student discovering his independence as well as his sexuality. I was so heartbroken when they took it off Netflix, but I think I saw it’s on Prime as well as YouTube Movies. And it was submitted to the Oscars! Truly gorgeous.
Here’s the trailer!
And here’s the short film it’s based on! The feature is the same director, same lead cast, and an expansion of the same story.
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Thank you! I hoped you would have good ideas on this post.
On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 12:18 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The other answer is Love, Simon, but I feel like I’ve mentioned that one so much lately.
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Multiple people recommended Love, Simon to me recently, especially knowing my love for young adult fiction and movies. It is definitely on my list of movies to watch.
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Oh wow, I forgot D.E.B.S. A comedy about four trainee spies in school uniforms fighting a supervillain who wants to blow up Australia. And then she “kidnaps” one of them.
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I love DEBS! Such a fun movie.
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