Tag Archives: Indian LGBTQ

“Mujhe Rang De” (An Unusual Beginning) Series Review (Ep.1 to 7)

Loosely translated, the title of this series means ‘Color me’ and that is an apt description of this mosaic enterprise as it is a mixture of human drama along with a vibrancy of artistic expression. I hesitate to label it as a BL because it is clearly not; yet it is a love story. The protagonists are adult gay men navigating societal norms and challenges that stem from enduring repressive attitudes regarding acceptable sexual behavior in their contemporary world. This is a story of two men who fall in love while facing societal judgments about their relationship. For theirs is a society that is hardly ‘open’ to having two men fall in love and even more intolerant of them staying together. The story is honest, blunt, and full of pain. Oh, their pain is insidiously underwhelming, which makes it perhaps even more acute. What would or could overcome the pain? Love.

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“A Nice Indian Boy” Movie Review

What an enchanting and funny movie this is! In addition to being so relatable to everyone even though it is centered around an Indian family. The issues that arise may seem unique to the Indian culture but candidly, they are not. Predicaments with parents and family dynamics are universal and are culturally neutral. That is what made this movie so captivating. It can be universally understood (except by the homophobes, of course) and they gave us a splash of Bollywood at the end!

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“Taps” Movie Review

While you watch this breathtakingly evocative short film, it will be easy to see yourself in it. Those of us who struggle with the everyday maintenance of a relationship, perhaps more so with an individual of the same gender, understand that facing a slice-of-life right-of-passage we know is coming, but we do not want to face it, this elegy is even more prodigious. Particularly difficult for us, as we have no anchor, no cornerstone, to keep the relationship together except the allegiance to one another. That is especially true for the two protagonists in this story. Rohan (Ullas Samrat) is leaving for a yearlong sabbatical, which means leaving his beloved Akshay (Rohit Mehra) alone in India.

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The BL Xpress Talks To Prolific Indian Filmmaker, Sridhar Rangayan

While positive portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community in mainstream Indian films is still a far fledged aspiration, there are few who dare to dream of the impossible. Award-winning film-maker, producer and screenwriter Sridhar Rangayan is one of them.

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