Films are an excellent medium for propagating inclusivity. Queer stories have been a part of literature for times immemorial but are fairly new in the world of cinema. While movies revolving around LGBTQ+ stories earlier would only be about the realities of the harshness experienced by queer people, the new wave of queer cinema brings along warmth and wholesomeness in marvellous rom-com plots.
June, designated as International Pride Month, is around the corner and we think it’s a good time to increase your awareness as an ally of the community. For the queers out there, you have probably already watched these movies but they must be re-watched as the world feels compelled to celebrate you in June. Corporate responsibility or not, Pride Month is always a fresh breath of air (minus the rainbow-washing).
In the run-up to the Pride Month, here are seven queer movies that never get boring!
1. Fire
The list has to begin with Fire, that released in 1996 and caused a string of controversies. Starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, it was the first Bollywood film to be unapologetically explicit about depicting a lesbian relationship on the big screen. The plot revolves around Radha (Shabana Azmi) and Sita (Nandita Das) who are sisters-in-law and live a frustrating life. While Sita’s husband got married to her to escape his father’s constant nagging and continues to have an affair with his old girlfriend, Radha’s husband maintains celibacy after a hermit’s advice that sexual contact should only be made to procreate. Radha is infertile, which has discouraged her husband to have any physical contact with her for 13 years. After being frustrated with their husbands and constantly taking care of Biji (mother-in-law), one evening they find solace in each other and become lovers. After a fast, whirlwind romance, they look for chances to elope. The rest is best when revealed by the brutally authentic movie itself. When you finally understand why the movie was named Fire, it is bound to give you goosebumps.
2. Call Me By Your Name
Mystery Of Love by Sufjan Stevens plays in the background every time the Luca Guadagnino directorial Call Me By Your Name is mentioned. The film is based on André Aciman’s 2007 book of the same name and is the final movie in the Desire trilogy by Luca (I Am Love and Bigger Splash were the first two). Elio Perlman played by Timothée Chalamet falls in love with Armie Hammer’s character, Oliver, who is the 24-year-old student of Elio’s father. As a coming-of-age film, Call Me By Your Name chronicles the story of an innocent love story which has an emotional ending. Set in 1983 rural Italy, the film is a cult favourite now. After Elio and Oliver sleep together for the first time, Oliver says to Elio, “Call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine”. When the line’s significance returns in the end, it is heartbreaking and makes the film a must-watch!
3. Margarita With A Straw
The 2014 Shonali Bose directorial continues to receive critical acclaim till date. Kalki Koechlin plays the role of Laila Kapoor, an Indian teenager relocates to the USA with her orthodox Maharashtrian mom Shubhangini (played by Revathi). Laila, who is an aspiring writer and musician, is navigating life while suffering from cerebral palsy. She meets Khanum (Sayani Gupta) who is a visually impaired activist. Laila also meets a young man named Jared in college. After being in a relationship for two years with Khanum, Laila gets confused about her sexuality as she continues to be attracted to men. Consequently, she sleeps with Jared and later confesses to Khanum. Meanwhile, she also comes out to her mom whose colon cancer comes back only to take her away forever. The movie can be watched several times and is inspiring in a touching way.
4. Aligarh
When Hansal Mehta brought a gay romance based in the conservative city of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, it was a surprise for Indian queers. The film starring versatile actors Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao, is based on the real-life story of Prof. Ramchandra Siras, who was the head of the Classical Modern Indian Languages faculty at Aligarh Muslim University. The story begins with a journalist from the local news channel barging inside Siras’s house to catch him having sexual relations with a rickshaw puller. Soon after, Rajkummar Rao’s character, Deepu Sebastian, a journalist, contacts him and begins helping him take his case to court. By this time, Siras was already suspended from all positions in the university. The court ruled in his favour and he also developed a romantic connection with Sebastian but before he could hear the good news, he was found dead.
5. Badhaai Do
When Rajkummar Rao plays a gay character, it’s not offensive and caricaturish (like often found in Indian cinema). Harshavardhan Kulkarni’s romantic comedy, Badhaai Do is full of laughs and deals with a lavender marriage in an Indian background. Starring Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar, it is a hearty watch for the whole family this Pride Month. Shardul is a police officer while Sumi is a physical education teacher. While both of them are gay, they decide to marry because of familial pressure and pretend to be a heterosexual couple. However, they continue their individual queer romances and even adopt a child. The film ends on a love-filled note where an adoption ritual at Shardul and Sumi’s house sees Sumi’s lover as a third parent with some of their family members also in attendance.
6. The Perfection
We see The Perfection as a psychological drama with an extensive aspect of revenge, and not a horror drama. The craftsmanship of Richard Shepard is a chilling one. Starring Allison Williams as Charlotte Willmore and Logan Browning as Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wells, the story is set in the Bachoff Academy, a music school for cellists. Charlotte is a renowned cellist who returns to Bachoff as a guest and she ends up having a romantic rendezvous with Lizzie. However, when the two go off to Shanghai, Charlotte drugs Lizzie and that makes her see maggots coming out of her hand and results in her cutting the hand off. While Lizzie is convinced that Charlotte did this because she was jealous, it was far from the truth. Charlotte had figured out that Balchoff’s best students are indoctrinated and sexually assaulted and the rest followed. It is an unnerving watch but gives the queers their much-deserved vengeance.
7. But I’m A Cheerleader
A cult classic, the 1999 movie But I’m A Cheerleader touches on a serious and sensitive issue of conversion therapy. Natasha Lyonne plays the role of Megan Bloomfield, a high-school cheerleader who does not like kissing her footballer boyfriend but enjoys catching glimpses of her fellow cheerleaders. Megan’s parents send her to True Direction, a residential in-patient facility which is supposed to cure her lesbianism. Since Megan had a religious upbringing where she was told homosexuality is a sin, she tries her level best to become a heterosexual. After failing, former residents of True Direction take her to a local gay bar and several insightful events follow. In the end, her parents are seen uncomfortably sitting at a PFLAG meeting as they have to accept their daughter’s sexuality.
