While the audience may doubt the authenticity of a movie when you say remake, Bollywood has proven time and again that this tag is nothing to be afraid of. There have been instances were remakes of Hollywood movies have done wonders at the box office for us. Ranging from taking a seed of inspiration to keeping it completely the same but changing it to the taste of our audience, Bollywood is close to perfecting this art. Chachi 420, Sarkar and Baazigar are just some shining examples of this.
As for us, this Pride Month, we’ve tried and imagined some brilliant Hollywood LGBTQ movies we’d love to see remade for audience across India. While the dream is to abandon even the term ‘LGBTQ movies’ so that we can have it seamlessly flow into mainstream cinema, India is still a few steps behind for now.
While we realise that our audience may not be so ‘bold’ enough or so accepting to watch these, what can we say, cinema enthusiasts can dream, no?
So here’s our list of exceptional movies that we’d love to see re-imagined in a way that would appeal more to our Indian senses.
Carol
Two women who meet at a department store become friends and much more as they get to know each other. Riddled with problems of their individual lives like divorce, a child, and a boyfriend, it throws light into the lives of these two women. It doesn’t feel forced in any way and is surely one of the best movies to watch whether it falls under LGBTQ category or not. And imagine if it were to be remade for Indian audiences, the reach of such a movie would be immense. Maybe Tabu in Cate Blanchett‘s role of Carol and Kangana Ranaut in Rooney Mara‘s role of Therese? We’d love to watch this story unfold in India, wouldn’t you?
Weekend
Weekend takes you through the journey of a gay couple who meet up for a hookup. A true modern day love story that lightly touches upon the topic of coming out and being comfortable with your sexuality in public. While in India we are still grappling with Section 377, we could maybe bring about a change in mindset at least through our films? If ALT Balaji’s web series Romil and Jugal was one right step in this direction, maybe a mainstream film could be the next. We can totally imagine Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan slaying the lead roles. Remember Koffee With Karan Season 3?
Show Me Love
A sweet coming of age story of two teenage girls from the same school. Adding to their high school drama, their opposite personalities make it for a sweet story told beautifully. We can’t think of anyone more perfect than Alia Bhatt and Shweta Tripathi to play Elin and Agnes. What say?
Tomboy
This is one amazing movie. Period. The film tells the story of a girl, Laure who pretends to be a boy in order to make friends in a new neighbourhood she’s moved into. A little girl, Lisa befriends her to whom she lies about her gender and never attempts to change it. The movie shows us a lovely relationship between Laure and her little sister, her mother, and Lisa, who she eventually start developing feelings for. We can’t think of who would replace the girls in the Bollywood remake, but with so many rising stars in B-Town these days, we’ll be sure to find their Indian counterparts.
The Kids Are All Right
This one is a light-hearted family film that finally tells a story of a lesbian couple in a normal and happy surrounding. The plot thickens when their teenage children born from the same sperm donor goes searching for their father. This will be one interesting movie to watch when it’s made for the Indian audience. Think Rani Mukherji and Juhi Chawla as the married couple and Shahrukh Khan as the sperm donor. This is one movie we’d definitely buy tickets to.
While we’ve made a lot of pathbreaking movies like Fire, Margherita With a Straw and many more, we could take a few notes from Hollywood in terms more inclusive movies for the LGBTQ too. They say Cinema is a reflection of society, but it also serves as a platform that raises awareness among the public. So if not now, when?