This Hindi movie is a pretty straightforward slice-of-life story that tries to give a modern look at what it's like to be a single, professional gay man. It dives into how he understands who he is, the chances he missed out on, and the personal choices he’s made along the way. The director used three parallel timelines to tell the story, which honestly didn't make much sense to me. While the core idea was actually pretty interesting, I really feel like this would have worked way better as a short film considering the point it was trying to make. Still, it wasn't a bad watch. The plot centers on Rachit, a city professional, and his friend Shikhar as they hang out for an evening. Rachit is a polished, urban guy, while Shikhar has more of a "small-town" rustic vibe, and you can really see the contrast between them when they talk. As the night goes on, Rachit starts thinking back to some old memories from a long time ago. He remembers being an intern after college in ...
Each pf the six different episodes running at about 45 minutes each focus on a different decade right fro the 1050s to the 2000s. Some of these devices are more effective than others, as all come from a place of deeply earnest, searching curiosity and tenderness. We see the 50s where apparently being gay or lesbian wasn't as frowned upon as it later began to be. People were lot more tolerant util in the 60 the more conservative states started going up with laws. 1960s relies mostly on archival footage and the 1970s episode is a personal love letter to film-maker Barbara Hammer and poet Audre Lorde. As expected the 80s chronicles the AIDS crisis but with some different perspectives like the joyous, intimate home movies of Nelson Sullivan, who spent most of the 80s wandering around downtown with his camcorder and his dog, Blackout. A lot of emphasis and story focuses on LGBTQ people of color and black trans people and of course gay rights legally and how they evolved in the country. The 2000s is examined as the explosion queer visibility through multiple TV shows, movies and mainstream media.
As you can expect since different episodes are directed by different directors, the documentary series is very disparate, just like the community it tries to represent. But hats off to a very sincere attempt to explore and show us the entire history of LGBTQ community though its lenses and its evolution. A lot of famous movements are acknowledged but it was good to see references to many many such movements that over a period of time got merged with other movements like Women's right and BLM. There’s also a focus in the final episode on the epidemic of violence against trans women and the urgent need to place Black trans women and trans women of colour, the most vulnerable part of our community, at the centre of LGBTQ+ activism. The six episodes are not a very engaging watch and there is too much information. But having said that, it is empowering to see how the LGBTQ community has evolved in so many years that as an individual you feel a sense off gratitude for all the hard work that people before us have put in and a sense of pride for the queer, trans, and gender non-conforming lives that came before us. (6/10)
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