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 ...
For most of the past year, Daley has been vocal about his call for sporting organizations to be inclusive of LGBT sports folks. Echoing this at the start of the film, he asserts that the Commonwealth Games should consider preventing countries with anti-gay laws from hosting the event. But while speaking to LGBTQ athletes in person, Daley learns firsthand that they don’t believe such a punitive punishment will help their situation. As one of the anonymous Pakistani athletes informs him, the rulers of their country wouldn’t be fazed by being forbidden from hosting the Games and such an action wouldn’t change anything for those who have to live there. Instead they prefer a more inclusive approach, by probably proudly displaying the rainbow flag, which will be a reflection of the genuine support of Commonwealth community. To Daley’s credit, he makes a genuine effort to listen to what they have to say and soon realizes that bringing the rainbow flag into the Birmingham Games will be provide more hope than any ban. From Pakistan, he travels to Jamaica and does manage to met one of the openly gay athletes who is dual citizen of UK and Jamaica. But anyone els whom he meets are scared to reveal their identity and meet only in secret at very secluded places. In a very beautiful climax, Tom Daley invites six activists and athletes that he met during the filming to carry Pride flags as he brought The Queen’s Baton into the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and it was his way of telling all the athletes he encountered that what they had to say mattered.
It's been after a really longtime that a documentary moved me and touched me in ways that is hard to explain. The climax where Tom runs with Queen's baton and six rainbow flags waving around is a moment I will not forget. It brings the respect and recognition that LGBT members deserve and a firm standing that we are not going anywhere and are here to stay. To be honest, I don't know much about Tom Daley as a person, but he way he has conducted the subject, himself, the interviews, the empathy, this man needs to be congratulated and thanked for his excellent and intelligent reporting in this beautiful documentary. There is so much that this documentary shows us. Its not easy to watch when you hear stories about how people live in fear. But these are exactly the kind of things we wanna be showing and making people aware of. Its heartening to see when someone in a position of power and influence use it to spread an important and vital message. It really is a documentary that needs to be watched by all, whether you’re a sports fan or not and I doubt if you will be able to control your emotions seeing how beautifully it ends with one small but significant victory. (7.5/10)
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