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 ...
Filmed over 5 years, we meet Samuel who is in a stable relationship with his boyfriend Alex. But while we ar introduced to them, the scenes of a man being brutally beaten to death are juxtaposed on our screen. This guy was Samuel's friend and we immediately know that this is a brave step for these boys to bring their story to life. Samuel has grown in a small Kenyan village and has slash struggled with his sexuality, until he moved to Nairobi and finds friends and people like him. But family is still important to him. He visits his village to his parents who love him but also want him to get married and have a family. Even though they have met Alex as a friend, they chose to ignore. This dynamic Changs when Samuel officially comes out to his family and the father stops talking to him for a few years. Until his mother again reaches out to him asking to visit. The two boys are met with love and welcome, but probably still as friends. I can't imagine parents suddenly accepting someone like this. But we do see a hopeful ending when Samuel tells us that every prayer in their family starts with recalling all names of family members and now Alex is part of that list.
The documentary is a decent watch. Rather than sensationalizing the whole aspect of beinggay in Africa, the focus here is on queer solidarity and Samuel's life. It tries to show us how gay men possibly live in Nairobi or rural Kenya. We see Samuel and Alex surrounded by supportive queer friends, celebrating their anniversaries and generally just being happy and themselves. It would have been nice to see what's Alex's version as well and how easy or hard it was for him and his family to accept their son too. But nevertheless, it was very interesting to see the love Samuel's parents give him. This documentary is a timely story of perseverance, acceptance, teaching, mundanity, destiny, faith and simple humanity. Its not preachy or educational, but a story that educates you and shows you the humane side of things. It is the kind of African story that shelves being brave in favor of being seen as human by those closest to you and many families need it. (6/10)
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