[Some spoilers ahead]
The Netflix series Class by Ashim Ahluwalia, Raghav Kakkar and Kashyap Kapoor is a remake of the Spanish series Elite. The show seeks to depict how a well-preserved ecosystem of the ultra-rich is shattered when three students from an underprivileged background gain a scholarship to Hampton Internation School — a school reserved for the children of the aforementioned elite. The new students — Dheeraj Kumar Valmiki (Piyush Khati), Saba Manzoor (Madhyama Segal), and Balli Sehrawat (Cwaayal Singh) — receive a far from the warm welcome on arrival. As the show unfolds it forces the viewers and the characters themselves to reflect on the ways in which class-caste intersection, xenophobia, and homophobia manifest in the world around us.
The plotline of the show starts retrospectively. It opens with the shot of a dead body and proceeds to show us Dheeraj, who is now being interrogated. With the conflict presented to us right off the bat, there is very little that seems hopeful or joyful in the show, except for the story that unfolds between Saba’s brother Faruq (Chintan Rachchh) and Dhruv Sanghvi (Chayan Chopra), and well, Saba and Veer Ahuja (Zeyn Shaw).
The duo meets when Dhruv, who seems to stick in a world where he is chasing his father’s dream of becoming a swimming champion, finds some solace in marijuana.
Farooq is the son of a Kashmiri immigrant family, who picks up a side hustle as a drug peddler to make enough money so he can move away from home. In many ways, he too, like Dhruv, is stuck in a life he yearns to break out of. It seems fairly obvious that they are attracted to each other from the moment they meet.
However, from the start, Faruq isn’t delusional. He knows that being together would not be easy. Having had an uncle who was killed for being homosexual, Faruq is aware of how cruel the world can be towards non-conforming folks. Dhruv in comparison is rather naive. While he too struggles with coming out, he genuinely hopes that they will be able to overcome all hurdles. Once he asks Faruq, “Hum couple ki tarah to rahenge na (we will stay like a couple, right?)”.
As the story between the two unfolds, we see that Faruq’s cynicism seems to be vindicated. When Faruq and Dhruv are arrested while they were making out on the terrace during Balli’s party, While Dhruv is spared, because he has money, Faruq is beaten mercilessly. The scene serves to portray how social class also plays a role in how members of the community are treated. Faruq, the son of a tailor, does not have enough clout to avoid being physically abused by those in power. The instance jolts Faruq to reality and decides to call it quits. The next time they meet Faruq tells Dhruv about his uncle. The recall serves as a reminder to the audience that the views of homosexuality have not changed in the ways the world needs them to be.
Faruq never comes out at any point in the first season. He is outed to Saba by Veer during an argument. Saba, probably in fear and anger, describes his sexuality as an “indulgence”. While Saba might not necessarily be homophobic (I saw it as her never having to confront the idea, and her having to still find herself between the orthodox world of her family and this world of indulges she has now been pushed into), her instant reaction is also telling of how intolerance is deep-seated. Saba, much like many others, needs to unlearn what they have known and understood as the norm and accept people who are unlike her as well.
Dhruv has an entirely different experience. While he receives support and love when he comes out to Veer, his parents, both educators, take it badly. They tell him it is a phase and decide to send him to therapy. By the end of the season, the couple parts ways. It happens hidden away from the crowd in the auditorium, much like how most of their relationship unfolded in forgotten ruins and behind closed rooms. In that goodbye lies a world of pain: of not being accepted by the world, of having to let go of someone they love and of being robbed of the chance to live a life on their own terms.
Dhruv and Faruq are not the only queer characters in the show. Balli becomes part of a volatile ménage à trois with Koel Kalra (Naina Bhan) and Sharan Gujral (Moses Koul), early on in the show. Their equation raises questions about their sexuality, especially towards the end when Koel catches Sharan masturbating while watching Balli. For me, there are a few things that found their plotline off-putting. Koel and Sharan barely seem to have any chemistry (indicated very early in a scene where the couple is having sex while Koel stares into the void emptily). Additionally, some of the dialogues and shots are designed merely for titillating, coupled with mediocre acting, which makes a lot of the scenes extremely cringe.
Given that Elite is known for its queer storylines, it is definitely nice to see that it has not strayed away from its roots. Does the show attempt to be about a lot of things? Yes. And it does affect the plotlines. But, one can definitely hope that things will tie together better in the second season. But more importantly that Dhruv and Farooq find their way back to each other.
