Mumbai: LGBTQ community isn’t much talked about in Bollywood, but now Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele has become one of those rare movies that talks about LGBTQ but not in a ‘typical Bollywood way.’ The movie that features Zareen Khan and Ayushman Jha among others, presents the life of Mansi and Veer and how both being gay examines the growing attraction towards one another.
In an interview with india.com, the movie’s director Harish Vyas talked about how he wanted to break the myths of the LGBTQ community with the movie and how he is happy that it gained positive reviews from the audience. ”I wanted to break the myths of the LGBTQ community, that’s why I didn’t stereotype the protagonists. I feel that if we represent the community as normally as we can, without making them seem different, then only we can start having conversations and make a change. Though the audiences are changing, they’re accepting new ideas and concepts, we had our doubts,” he said. On being asked if the question of box office ever bothered him before the movie was released, Harish Vyas said, ”Yes, no doubt. The credit for this goes to the producers, they truly backed the film.”
During the interview, Harish also added that the representation of LGBTQ in Bollywood is slowly changing. He asserted that while earlier it was often presented as a comic element, things are now changing. A few years ago, the community felt caricatured, there wasn’t any emphasis given on it, as a society also, we didn’t really talk about their struggles and people in the LGBTQ community were suppressed. But, it has improved. We’ve had representation in cinema. We are now more open to discussions regarding it. There’s a long way to go, but only onwards,” he added.