5 Bollywood films that portrayed the LGBTQ community realistically

Margarita With A Straw

Kalki Koechlin's portrayal of a character with cerebral palsy, who eventually figures out her sexuality was highly appreciated. She played a lesbian,who falls in love with Sayani Gupta's character. The emotions displayed in the film, directed by Shonali Bose, were real and tangible.

Fire

This 1996 release starring Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi was way ahead of its time. Deepa Mehta wove an emotional story about two women, who find solace in each other, after being neglected by their husbands. The film faced a lot of criticism from radical groups when it released. Perhaps, it was ahead of its times.


Bombay Talkies

The short story directed by Karan Johar, in the anthology Bombay Talkies, is titled Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh. It stars Rani Mukerji, Randeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem and depicted the complications that come by hiding one's sexual preferences. Rani is left broken when she discovers that her husband, Randeep, is indulging in physical intimacy with another man.


Kapoor & Sons

Probably the title of the first commercial film ever, to portray a gay character sensitively, should be given to this film directed by Shakun Batra. Fawad Khan's intense character manifested a dignity, which Hindi cinema's mocked' gay characters lacked. His battle with himself and his family to come out of the closet was presented with the perfect amount of compassion.


Padmaavat

Ranveer Singh essayed the character of tyrant Alauddin Khilji with utmost perfection in the film. However, in his personal life, the ruler was said to be bisexual and the film shows a full-fledged scene as well as a song that is dedicated to the relationship he shared with slave Malik Kafur. Jim Sarbh, as Kafur, beautifully showcased a helpless lover, ready to do anything for his master.

I'm still torn between the two readings of the film though. While on one hand, I do think Laila does get involved with Khanum as a rebound after getting heartbroken over her crush's non acceptance, on the other hand, I also feel maybe that's how the director wanted to show that she discovers that she is bisexual.