Bollywood’s History of Queer Representation
By Val M
With a population of close to 150 million, India is as diverse a country as it can get. India’s diverse history has resulted in the existence of multiple cultures that presently live together in harmony. India also has an entertainment industry called the Hindi Cinema, famously known as Bollywood, a portmanteau of “Bombay”, the city that produces most of the Hindi films and “Hollywood”, the term for the American Film industry. Just like any other, Bollywood often includes India’s diverse culture and history in its movies.
Bollywood is over 100 years old with the first feature film, Raja Harishchandra, dating back to 1913. Cinema is a mirror of society and Bollywood cinema, over the years has represented India and the sentiments citizens of the country hold in their hearts. Now as media is broadening its horizons, there are a lot of question about queer representation in Bollywood. The representation of queer characters in Hindi Cinema can be dated as far back as 1971 when India’s first known movie with gay representation — Badnam Basti (in English: Ill-reputed Neighborhood) was released. The movie follows the story of a male bus driver who has an intimate relationship with a temple cleaner. The film was thought to have been lost for 40 years but was later rediscovered in 2019.
Between 1971 and the present day, there has been a wide range of queer characters in Bollywood films. But unfortunately Bollywood has not always been kind to the queer community. In her 2021 paper, “Gender Minority and its Changing Portrayal in Bollywood Films” Ankita Chowdhury notes that queer characters were often misrepresented in films. These misrepresentations have led to the creation of many unfavorable stereotypes towards the LGBTQ+ community. The 1996 movie Raja Hindustani features two homosexual characters Kammo, a manly woman and Gulab Singh, an overly feminine male by representing them as comic characters, channelling a stereotype against the queer community.
Bollywood also has a history of misrepresenting transgender characters in the past with popular actresses like Bobby Darling. Bobby, a transgender woman was born as Pankaj Sharma (later Pakhi Sharma) and was often seen as a comical gay character. Bobby’s characters in films were so negatively stereotyped that a generation of Indians sees her as someone who chases after heterosexual men just for some gags.
Many movies were made featuring queer characters who were grossly misrepresented. Like Dostana, a 2008 commercial big banner film that portrayed two straight men pretending to be gay in very stereotypical ways, just because they wanted to share an apartment with a conservative girl. The 2012 movie Student of the Year also featured a stereotypical gay high school principal who had romantic feelings for the school’s coach and hated his wife. The 2016 sex comedy Mastizaade also poorly represented a gay character as someone who chased after a straight man. These films make it very difficult to eradicate homophobic stereotypes from the minds of moviegoers who enjoy such commercial films and are negatively influenced by them.
However, in recent times, it seems like things are changing for the better. While there is room for a lot of growth, Bollywood has made a generous effort to represent queer characters to the best of its ability. Films like Fire (1996), My Brother…Nikhil (2005), Margarita With A Straw (2014), Aligarh (2015), Kapoor and Sons (2016), Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan (2017), Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019), and Badhaai Do (2022) among others have made a conscious effort to represent queer characters through a lens that is informative instead of homophobic.
There is also a a big push to have queer actors play queer characters. Many recent films with transgender characters have begun to cast transgender actors. Another film explores asexuality is the 2023 commercial film Satyaprem Ki Katha which represents an asexual married woman in a constructive way. The 2019 short film, Season’s Greetings and the 2023 Netflix original series Kohrra are also good examples of growth. There is hope for Indian Cinema to overcome its past mistakes by better representing LGBTQIA+ characters.
Being one of the most populated countries in the world, Hindi Cinema and Indian filmmakers owe it to the queer youth and adults of the nation to represent characters in a way that is not satirical or stereotypical. With changing times, conscious efforts are being made to represent queer characters in a positive light. While there is more queer representation at present, Bollywood still needs to improve in order to combat its homophobic past. As times and mindsets change, one can only hope to see a future where India’s queer individuals find the representation they need through stories presented by the Indian film industry.
About the Author:
Val M comes from Mumbai, India, a city which is known as one ‘that never sleeps’. Just like the city, Val also hardly ever sleeps all thanks to her insomnia. She spent her teenage years reading romance novels through the night. Her love for books prompted her to pursue a degree in English Literature. After graduating from the University of Mumbai, Val started working as a writer after landing a job in a US-based publishing company where she wrote news articles about the South Korean pop industry, also known as K-pop. Val loves being around children and wants to someday fulfil her dream of being a teacher. She is also a strong believer in the fact that people can be whoever they wish to be and love whoever they want to love.
