Bollywood is releasing its first-ever gay romcom

Bollywood is known for many things. Beautiful dance performances. Sweeping romances. Enviable musical numbers. But what it isn’t known for is its LGBTQ representation… probably because India’s Supreme Court only just eliminated a ban on homosexuality two years ago. Thankfully, the industry is now finally getting with the times, and films that focus on same-sex relationships are breaking through.First there was last year’s release of How I Felt When I Saw That Girl, about a family accepting their lesbian daughter. Now, the film that’s being called India’s first gay romcom, Be Extra Careful About Marriage, is hitting the big screen. Considering the stigmas that still exist around the queer community in India—where many citizens face discrimination and violence for their sexual orientation—the movie is a pretty big deal. Especially since, unlike How I Felt When I Saw That Girl, which kept its premise a secret until its release, the film is openly pitching its premise in the trailers, complete with flamboyant dance numbers and romantic scenes.[video_embed id='1900805']RELATED: How LGBTQ stars like Lil Nas X and Laverne Cox are inspiring others to live their truth[/video_embed]Marriage stars Ayushmann Khurrana as a guy who goes against expectations in order to be with the person he loves, except instead of pursuing a woman (as many of these Bollywood storylines go), it’s a man, played by Jitender Kumar, who has caught his eye. The trailer, which has more than 50 million views, shows Khurrana wearing a rainbow cape as he shouts into a megaphone that his lover’s father suffers from a disease without a cure: homophobia.

 

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Homosexuality ka ilaaj kyun dhoondhte hain log? Homophobia ka kyun nahi? Kal aa rahe hain aapke paas. #ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan on 21st Feb. Jeetega pyaar. Seh parivaar.

A post shared by Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) on Feb 20, 2020 at 5:27am PST

It’s all a bid by writer/director Hitesh Kewalya to make the storyline accessible to audiences through humour, but to not use the gay characters as punchlines. Khurrana seems to be the man to do that thanks to some of the previous “unconventional” roles he’s tackled, such as playing a guy with erectile dysfunction or a pianist pretending to be blind.“A subject like this needs a mainstream actor and a certain tonality to reach a larger population and hopefully start a conversation,” Khurrana, who has nearly 10 million Instagram followers, told Agence France-Presse. “Humour is just an entry point to spotlighting an emotional and serious matter... Section 377 might have been read down but a cruel bias against homosexuality still exists.”

 

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Out and proud!!! Stars pouring for #ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan @smzsofficial @gajrajrao @neena_gupta @Jitendrak1 @manurishichadha @sunita_rajwar @maanvigagroo @pankhuri313 @neerajsingh5852 Written and directed by @HiteshKewalya @aanandlrai @cypplofficial @bhushankumar @tseries.official @tseriesfilms

A post shared by Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) on Feb 21, 2020 at 3:34am PST

The film hits theatres on February 21, and although early reviews have been positive Khurrana fans will have to wait and see how it does at the box office. The last time a film about a same sex couple hit theatres was in 1996; Fire revolved around the romance between two Indian women, and it ignited international protests.People can only hope that two decades later, the conversation has shifted.[video_embed id='-1']Before you go: Bride and her brother pull off flawless Bollywood-style dance routine[/video_embed]