It seems like Bollywood is finally willing to come out of the closet after the decriminalization of homosexuality with the changes brought in section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
After a number of ‘offbeat’ (a la ‘non-mainstream’) flicks taking on the subject of relationships across the spectrum, with LGBT characters as their main protagonists, the industry is finally opening-up to the possibilities of uncovering all those untold stories that have remained in the closet for far too long.
In the upcoming flick ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’, Sonam Kapoor plays the role of a closeted gay woman, who has been hiding her ‘secret’ from her conventional Punjabi family – while they are busy in finding ‘the right kind of groom’ for her.
Also starring Juhi Chawla and Rajkumar Rao, the movie’s trailer was unveiled earlier this week and it looks super-promising, to say the least.
Check it out below:
Although previously, the likes of Manoj Bajpayee and Fawad Khan have depicted LGBT characters with utmost finesse, but if memory serves us right, ELKDT would serve as the first time a leading B-town actress steps-in the shoes of a lesbian character, which also happens to be the movie’s lead protagonist, and does not fall to caricature and stereotypes.
But unlike Aligarh or Deepa Mehta’s groundbreaking ‘Fire’, this Shelly Chopra Dhar-directorial is far more mainstream and Bollywood-ish and is meant to cater to the masses.
If that’s not interesting enough, the movie features Anil Kapoor transforming his real-life role of a father, to portray Sonam’s perplexed and ‘in-denial’ on-screen dad – who has to come in terms with his daughter’s reality.
Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the movie is scheduled for a release on 1 February 2019.
Here’s to hoping it brings about a positive change, it intends to.