Bollywood takes the next step

Bollywood's next step -  "Ek Ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga" 

It is not often that an industry that has been alive for as long as Bollywood has throws up a mainstream movie with a topic that it hasn’t championed before. So to walk out of ‘Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga” after witnessing mainstream Bollywood’s first attempt at portraying the topic of homosexuality was a unique experience.

The idea of homosexuality still isn’t fully accepted by a large population of India and many people think of it as some sort of a ‘disease’ that can be cured. It is often said that cinema has the power to influence people in ways no other medium can, and in a country like India where film superstars are placed on a pedestal only matched by cricketers, this idea rings true even further. After ventures into the topic in films such as Kapoor and Sons, where there was a homosexuality angle, and Aligarh, considered by many to be an Indie film, starring Manoj Bajpai and Rajkummar Rao (not the star he is now), it was high time for a mainstream Bollywood movie, with more commercial actors to normalise the topic.

I walked into the theatre eager to see how the topic was handled by the director, with my biggest fear being that homosexuality would be fantasised or made into a joke, and when Rajkummar Rao laughed at Sonam’s revelation just before the interval, I feared the worst. Given the nature of the topic and the fact that this was the Bollywood's first real venture into the field, it was essential that the director and script-writers treaded carefully as they were laying the foundation for a possible new genre of films in the industry. However, after the interval I was pleasantly surprised as the director did an impressive and commendable job, especially given this is her first film, in showing nuance and flair while exploring the topic. She didn’t attempt to portray everything as immediately hunky dory and depicted reactions that I’m sure would be the reaction of many people in India. Through the use of words such as “disease”, “embarrassment” and “not-normal”, especially by Sonam’s brother and father the director and script-writer attempted to show the beliefs against homosexuality in India, before going on to show that these reactions are in fact completely uncalled for.

As I left the theatre, I heard some people saying that movie was not risky enough and the director had chosen the safe route. However, according to me in a country such as India, in which homosexuality was decriminalised only recently and many still hold vehement beliefs against the topic, the director had to exercise caution in the way she dealt with the topic. It is still a long road for homosexuality to become normal in India, and it is something that we should all help to achieve together, however, Bollywood has finally taken its first step in that direction and in my opinion has started on the right note. At one point in the movie, when Rajkummar Rao's character puts up a play on homosexuality, some of the audience labels it as nonsense and proceeds to walk out. I just hope that the masses watch this film with an open mind and give it a fair chance, because the success of this film could go a long way in the direction of prompting more films to be made on this topic and the eventual normalisation of homosexuality in India.