10 great LGBT Bollywood movies; Kapoor & Sons, Margarita with a Straw and more
LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (or queer). LGBT is an adaptation of LGB, which began to replace the term gay (or gay and lesbian), in reference to the broader LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s. When not inclusive of transgender people, the shorter LGB is still used. It may refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender, instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
Bollywood is starting to produce movies that portray LGBTQ characters with more depth, empathy, and sensitivity. This change can be attributed to the efforts of filmmakers, actors, and activists to develop social attitudes, raise awareness, and advocate for community rights and representation. Here’s a list of 10 great LGBTQ Bollywood movies.
Here are 10 great LGBT Bollywood movies
1. Fire (1996)
Running Time: 1h 44m
Movie Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year of release: 1996
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Fire depicts two women who are abandoned by their husbands and find love and solace in each other. As the two women recognize their similar situations, they grow closer, and their relationship becomes far more involved than either of them could have anticipated. This film is a great example that falls into the list of LGBT Bollywood movies.
2. My Brother…Nikhil (2005)
Running Time: 2 hours
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Movie Genre: Drama, Sport
Movie Star Cast: Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Purab Kohli
Director: Onir
Writer: Onir, Amitabh Verma
Year of release: 2005
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video
My Brother…Nikhil is one of the best LGBT Bollywood movies. It focuses AIDS awareness in India and dealt delicately with homosexuality. The film is based on the life of Dominic d’Souza, an AIDS activist in Goa and the city’s patient zero for the virus. It takes you through the life of a man who, after being diagnosed with AIDS in the early 90s, was forcibly isolated and neglected by society.
3. I Am (2010)
Running Time: 1h 35m
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Movie Genre: Romance, Adventure
Movie Star Cast: Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Manisha Koirala, Nandita Das, Radhika Apte, Sanjay Suri, Purab Kohli
Director: Onir
Writer: Urmi Juvekar, Merle Kröger, Ashwini Malik
Year of release: 2010
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Zee5, Amazon Prime Video
I Am is an anthology of four short films that depict the struggles of individuals, as they try to find their identity in an unsympathetic world.
4. Margarita with a Straw (2014)
Running Time: 1h 40m
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Movie Genre: Drama
Movie Star Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Revathi, Sayani Gupta
Director: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar
Writer: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar, Atika Chohan
Year of release: 2014
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Netflix
Margarita with a Straw follows a rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves her home in India to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.
5. Aligarh (2015)
Running Time: 1h 54m
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Movie Genre: Biography, Drama
Movie Star Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Ashish Vidyarthi
Director: Hansal Mehta
Writer: Apurva Asrani, Ishani Banerjee
Year of release: 2015
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video
In Aligarh, a gay, linguistic professor living in a small orthodox city must deal with the aftermath of a sting operation that puts his sexual orientation in front of the entire nation. This movie is one of the best LGBT Bollywood movies of all time.
6. Kapoor & Sons (2016)
Running Time: 2h 12m
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
Movie Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Movie Star Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Fawad Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah, and Rajat Kapoor
Director: Shakun Batra
Writer: Shakun Batra, Ayesha DeVitre, Spandan Mishra
Year of release: 2016
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Netflix
In Kapoor & Sons, brothers Arjun and Rahul return home to visit their ailing grandfather. Amidst numerous ongoing family problems, emotions get intensified when a girl causes a rift between the two.
7. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019)
Running Time: 2 hours
IMDB Rating: 5.6/10
Movie Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Movie Star Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao
Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar
Writer: Shelly Chopra Dhar, Gazal Dhaliwal, P.G. Wodehouse
Year of release: 2019
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Netflix
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga tells the story of closeted lesbian Sweety Chaudhary and her attempts to come out to her conservative, traditional family.
8. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)
Running Time: 1h 57m
IMDB Rating: 5.8/10
Movie Genre: Comedy, Crime, Romance
Movie Star Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar, Gajraj Rao
Director: Hitesh Kewalya
Writer: Hitesh Kewalya
Year of release: 2020
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan follow the road to achieving a happy ending is a little too rough for two guys Kartik and Aman. While Aman’s family tries hard to battle his love for Kartik, Kartik isn’t prepared to step back until he marries Aman.
9. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021)
Running Time: 1h 57m
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Movie Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Movie Star Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Vaani Kapoor, Yograj Singh
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Writer: Abhishek Kapoor, Supratik Sen, Tushar Paranjape
Year of release: 2021
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Netflix
In Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Manu, a bodybuilder from Chandigarh, India, falls in love with Maanvi, a Zumba teacher. All seems well until a revelation causes turmoil in their love story.
10. Badhaai Do (2022)
Running Time: 2h 27m
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
Movie Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Movie Star Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Cum Darang
Director: Harshavardhan Kulkarni
Writer: Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Suman Adhikary, Akshat Ghildial
Year of release: 2022
Where to Watch / OTT Platform: Netflix
In Badhaai Do, Shardul Thakur Flaglot and Suman Singh enter into a marriage of convenience but chaos ensues when her unhinged girlfriend comes to stay with them.
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