Madhuri Dixit, Prithviraj Sukumaran And Other Mainstream Actors Who Have Essayed LGBTQ Roles In Movies

There has been a gradual and open acceptance of homosexuality and the wide spectrum of the LGBTQ community by the Indian film industry. Many actors have come out and expressed their support, being an ally. In addition to being vocal about their opinions, actors such as Nivin Pauly and Madhuri Dixit also appear in films that feature LGBTQ characters.

Let's look at some mainstream Indian actors who have essayed LGBTQ roles in the movies.

1. Madhuri Dixit-Nene in Maja Ma

In her new movie Maja Ma, Madhuri Dixit plays Pallavi Patel, an ordinary housewife who comes out of the closet and owns her individual identity.

You can watch the movie on Amazon Prime Video.

2. Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das in Fire

In 1996, Deepa Mehta's trilogy Elements featured the actresses Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das playing the characters Radha and Sita in Fire. Azmi played Radha, while Nandita Das played Sita, her sister-in-law. In this film, both characters are deserted by their husbands and fall in love with each other. Back then, talking about the LGBTQ community was taboo, so these roles were ground-breaking in Indian cinema.

You can watch the movie on Prime Video.

3. Nivi Pauly and Roshan Mathew in Moothon

Moothon is the first-of-its-kind portrayal of same-sex love in mainstream Malayalam cinema. However, Moothon isn't just a film about gay love; it's a film with an immense thematic depth that explores the queer spectrum with poetic finesse. Nivin Pauly plays Akbar, and Roshan Mathew plays Ameer.

You can watch the movie on ZEE5.

4. Purab Kohli and Sanjay Suri in My Brother Nikhil

Based on the true story of Domini D' Souza, an Indian AIDS activist, Nikhil's character shows how it's hard to be gay and an HIV patient. In this movie, Sanjay Suri plays closeted gay swimmer Nikhil Kapoor, who gets HIV and is abandoned by his parents and kicked off his team.

You can watch the movie on ZEE5 and Prime Video.

5. Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar in Badhaai Do

In Badhaai Do, Rajkummar played Shardul, a gay cop, and Bhumi Pednekar played Sumi, a teacher who is a lesbian. Married to each other, both lead dual and hidden lives as a gay and lesbian people. This was the first Bollywood movie on a lavender marriage.

You can watch the movie on Netflix.

6. Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar in Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan

The actor, known for choosing multilayered roles, played a gay character with Jitendra Kumar in Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhaan and kept the message simple: 'Love is Love'.

You can watch the movie on Prime Video.

7. Prithviraj Sukumaran in Mumbai Police

Mumbai Police, a Malayalam film that starred Prithviraj Sukumaran as an unapologetic homosexual police officer, received a lot of criticism upon its theatrical release because of the homosexuality of its protagonist. The film cannot be regarded as a classic that is the epitome of perfection, but it is nonetheless a brave step toward acceptance of one's sexual orientation and the education of people about the stereotypical portrayal of gay men.

You can watch the movie on Disney+ Hotstar.

8. Kalki Koechlin in Margarita with a Straw

Kalki played the role of Laila, a bisexual teen with cerebral palsy who falls in love with a young activist named Khanum (Sayani Gupta), a blind girl with a strong personality. In the movie, Laila is also attracted to a guy named Jared, so she gets confused about her sexual orientation.

You can watch the movie on Netflix and Voot.

9. Fawad Khan in Kapoor & Sons

After their grandfather suffers a cardiac arrest, two estranged brothers return home to their parents to confront their collapsing marriage. It's about a dysfunctional family where two brothers come face-to-face with their dysfunctional parents. Fawad Khan played the role of Rahul Kapoor, a gay man who keeps the truth to himself until he comes out, much to the dissent of his mother.

You can watch the movie on Netflix.

10. Sonam Kapoor in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Sonam Kapoor played a lesbian character Sweety in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. Based on the 1919 novel 'Damsel in Distress,' Sweety had to decide whether to marry a man that would make her family happy or the girl she loved.

You can watch the movie on Netflix.

11. Randeep Hooda & Saqib Saleem in Bombay Talkies

Randeep played the role of Dev, a closeted homosexual who is married to a woman (Rani Mukerji). Saqib played Avinash, a young man who leaves his parents' house in distress because they are ashamed of his sexuality.

You can watch the movie on Netflix and Jio Cinema.

12. Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi in Dedh Ishqiya

The sequel to Ishqiya (2010), Dedh Ishqiya, featured Madhuri Dixit playing Begum Para and Huma Qureshi playing Muniya in one of Bollywood's most elegant lesbian love stories. A commercial success, this film also featured Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah and received highly positive reviews for its story, performances, writing, and direction.

You can watch the movie on Netflix and Prime Video.

13. Manoj Bajpayee in Aligarh

Aligarh is based on the life of Ramchandra Siras, who was an Indian linguist and author. In the film, Bajpayee played the role of a homosexual professor who becomes involved in a sting operation designed to determine his sexual orientation and develops a special bond with the journalist who covers his story.

You can watch the movie on Jio Cinema.

How To Be An Ally To The LGBTQ Community

Allies are some of the most effective and powerful voices in the LGBTQ+ movement. There's no perfect ally, but a good ally lifts not just queer but all marginalized voices. One of the least represented communities in the Indian movie industry is the Queer community. There's virtually no queer representation in Bollywood or Mollywood, and only a handful of films had a faint hint of a queer character.

However, the number of titles focusing on the queer community has recently doubled, bringing new content to the forefront - normalising the way of life and boosting the importance of allyship.

Remember, allyships are a way to combat injustice and promote equity. It's all about changing the system - systemically. In a society where equity and inclusion are increasingly seen as not just a nice-to-have, it's a necessity!

In the same line, while heterosexual actors essaying the roles of LGBTQ+ characters shadow the unbridled and unlettered standing of the film industry on the topic of representation, it indeed is a 'something' in the world of 'nothing.'