Queer stories in Hindi cinema: Representation is the first step, but what about inclusivity

We are halfway through this year, and as we leave yet another Pride Month behind us, it’s vital to truly reflect on what Pride means. As an ally, I can only hope to be right, and be corrected if wrong, because in the end, it may be our fight, but there’s two ways about the fact that it’s their lives. Having said that, it’s no news that in the last few years, Bollywood has been turning over a new leaf – one about representing the LGBTQA+ community in mainstream movies. There has been an evident rise in the portrayals of LGBTQA+ subjects in Hindi films.

As far as representation goes, we’ve come quite a long way from the Dostana and Mastizaade days, with films like Aligarh, Fire, Kapoor & Sons, etc. However, representation doesn’t account for a lot, when there is little to no inclusivity. As we tell more and more queer stories, it’s essential to have representation not just in the stories we tell, but also in the process of creating those stories. There’s been a lot of conversation around the fact of how queer actors should be casted in roles of characters that are from the LGBTQA+ community.

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When Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi was released, the film was not only met with praise for stellar performances, but also with criticism for casting a cisgender man (Vijay Raaz), to play Razia Bai, a transwoman. Similar flak was also received by Vaani Kapoor, for playing a cisgedner woman in a role about a transgender woman, in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.

Most of the mainstream films about queer stories have seen a cast of cishet actors, whether it’s Ayushmann Khurrana in Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan, Sonam Kapoor in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, or Rajkumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar in Badhai Do. When lived experiences of a community that has long suffered at the hands of not only discrimination, but also intolerance, are appropriated by non-queer actors, it’s not only inaccuracy that is probleamtic, but also the fact that queer actors are robbed of important job opportunities, as well as a chance to make themselves feel seen and visible to a world, that has consciously tried to unsee them.

However, it is also true that in the practical world of filmmaking, representation and visibility are hardly ever part of the conversation. What constitutes as important in casting is the budget, the story, and the recovery that the cast can bring to the film and its producers. Therefore, it’s tricky to cast an unknown, queer actor in a film that needs to be shouldered on a familiar face that can recover the monetary expenses, by their sheer presence that will get the distributors the reach they need. Whether we like it, or not, there is a business side to the movies that doesn’t understand our ideal and anarchic demand for change, irrespective of how virtuous it is.

Faraz Ansari, in an interview with Elle said that, ‘I feel this isn’t about the casting directors wanting to cast cishet actors for queer or trans characters. It is always about who the producers want to cast. Most of the casting in India is box-office collection centric which means producers want big names headlining the film to have bigger openings and bigger collections.’

 The matter of the fact is that, is that when you cast an Ayushmann Khurrana or Sonam Kapoor, you get a greater reach, a wider audience, and in a way it makes sense because that way the story, the message, which is of utmost significance will reach a lot many more people. At the risk of repeating myself, I’ll tell you that we live in an extremely imperfect world, where you can’t have it all, so maybe, when a film like Badhai Do travels and makes impact, we must appreciate it not for what’s lacking, but for what’s happening. Sometimes, in art, the difference it makes, is all that matters, and while demanding queer actors to play queer roles is absolutley right, it’s also wise to see the intent, the emotion, and the result. You need a Rajkumar Rao to get the kind of attention that Badhai Do did.

That said, lived experiences can never be replaced by research and acting. Visibility is paramount, and therefore queer actors must get their due, however, it must also be done within the rational demands, because a fight for justice, is no fight at all, if you can’t actually materlaize the change. Characters like that of Razia Bai, that aren’t central to the story, or the face on the poster, should be casted with queer actors, because these characters are usually supporting elements to a larger narrative, and do not even hold the burden of marketing the film, therefore allowing the producers to cast people from the community in these roles. In the longer run, these faces can become familiar, and finally one day we may get to see a queer actor essaying the role of a queer lead in a mainstream film.

Filmmakers, Producers, Writers, must realize that having a character from the LGBTQA+ community is the first step towards inclusivity, not the last. There’s a long way to go, whether it’s having queer actors essay queer roles, or the fact that these characters need to be layered, and complex, and not mere tokens. When you cast a queer actor to play a role that is about queerness, you automatically rid yourself of the burden to be authentic, because there’s ownership when you’ve lived the experiences you’re going to essay. You get to focus on the nuances of the story, rather than the semantics of the representation. You also give queer audiences, an excellent opportunity to find a real role model in mainstream cinema.

However, it’s also vital to remember that while there’s so much buzz about on-screen representation of queer actors, there’s little conversation around the off-camera representation of queer writers, directors, filmmakers, and other crew members. While your marketing and distribution, may not allow you to cast an unfamiliar, queer face as the lead of the film, it doesn’t take a lot to have a crew that identifies as queer, while making a film about an LGBTQA+ story. That way, even if you don’t have inclusivity on-camera, you have enough queer people off camera to make sure, that there is no misappropriation, and the representation in the story is honest and truthful to that of the community.

We must look forward to a future with not only representation of queer characters and stories, but also inclusivity of queer people in the process of telling these stories. I don’t know whether life imitates art, or art imitates life, but I do know, that both life and art, are inexplicably connect, and therefore they must do right by each other.

Takshi Mehta is a freelance journalist and writer. She firmly believes that we are what we stand up for, and thus you’ll always find her wielding a pen.

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