MIRRORS OF PREJUDICE: HOW BOLLYWOOD'S REPRESENTATION OF LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS SHAPED (AND RESHAPED) INDIAN SOCIETY

Abstract

This research paper aims to explore the work done in Bollywood, both Commercial and Art films, that have dealt with Homosexuality, and to identify their impact on society. This paper will be covering movies from 1990 till the present. The paper will be reconnecting the dots of evolution in Bollywood with the representation of Homosexual minorities. With each passing decade, there was a change in outlook toward the LGBT community. In some of the commercial movies, the Queer community has been represented in a very pessimistic manner. While during the 2000s homosexual characters were used as comic relief. These commercial movies had the wider scope of gaining the attention of the audience, but they did not portray the ground reality of the problem faced by the LGBT people, thus making the audience oblivion towards the reality of these minorities. The Art films created quality content, true to its cause, with the representation of the queer society, without adding any melodramatic element.  Art films are aimed toward the niche market and were not accessible to everyone during the 1990s and the 2000s. In this paper, I will be doing a comparative analysis of the film produced between 1990- 2020 that have showcased homosexuality in some way or another, and the impact of these films on society.