After surprising the audience with an interesting queer twist in his Crime-Thriller web-series Twisted, film-maker Vikram Bhatt’s another web-series Spotlight also has a similar kind of twist in the tale.
Remember Karan Johar’s disappointing confession in his biography that he won’t say those three words that everyone wants to listen? But you will be glad to know that in the recent episode of Spotlight, an actress admitted an affair with her make-up artist friend at a press conference!
I would like to call it a dream sequence, as we haven’t seen anything like this in real Bollywood so far. Alongside, it is probably one of the best and well-written coming-out scenes we have seem in media in India. This show is currently airing on Viu Clip’s video on demand platform Viu and is a fictional biopic of a Bollywood starlet, directed by Suhail Tatari.
The Ultimate sacrifice for love
The plot is a common one where two contemporary actresses are fighting for a big budget film of an A-list director. Both actresses play their own cards to bag the role, but the moment Priya Chopra (played by Simran) gets the firm, the other lead Sana (played by Tridha) plays the dirtiest trick. While shooting for a common film, Sana gets the hint that something is cooking between Priya and her make-up artist. Sana hires a detective to get to the truth and the detective brings her photographs of Priya making-out with her make-up artist/girlfriend! Sana releases these photographs in the media, which creates a lot of controversies.
Priya’s girlfriend is much in love with her, and since this revelation has put Priya’s career on stake, she suggests taking all the blame on herself, and asks Priya to remove her from the job and inform the same to the media. Priya is much touched by her girlfriend’s unconditional love and sacrifice.
She immediately calls a press conference to make the clarification but surprisingly ends up announcing the following: “I know my career will go down after this, but I don’t care anymore. Yes, I am Lesbian and I am deeply in love with my girlfriend”.
Consequently, Sana not only regrets her mistake but also is truly impressed by Priya’s honesty.
Long way to go
We all know that Media and Entertainment industry is full of talented LGBTQ people, but we are still waiting for the day when this society will be more accepting, more tolerant and people would not be discriminated owing to their sexuality or gender definitions. Many people are living in the closet because there is a threat of losing professional grip.
What Priya’s role has done in this web-series is inspiring, but it is still a fictional story. What if an actress comes out like this in real life? Will it affect her career and her fan-following? Will the world continue to see and admire her work for what it is worth, and not judge her?
People continue to remain in the closet because the media industry (like other professions in this country) has limited opportunities for those who have honestly shared their sexual orientation with the world.
Nonetheless, it is terrific to see that the content creators are not limiting themselves to gay men stories only but openly creating good lesbian themed content and representing their desires and loves in the right light. Isn’t that worth celebrating?
