Readers from the 70s may well be aware of the term ‘lavender marriage.’ It is a marriage of convenience between a man and a woman to conceal a socially stigmatised sexual orientation of one or both partners. In 1895 the British press associated the colour lavender with homosexuality, and the term became famous after Rock Hudson married Phyllis Gates, a woman employed by his agent to hide his sexuality. And now, ‘lavender marriage’ has made its debut in Bollywood – not in real life, but on the reels.
“The upcoming film of Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao Badhaai Do is said to be on this subject. While Rao is the only male cop in an all-female police station, Bhumi plays a Physical Education instructor who aspires to play handball for the country. The film, like Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, examines the concept of homophobia and the various adjustments people have to make to try and work out a marriage of convenience to enable themselves to pursue personal goals and lead their own lives. But the film directed by Harshvardhan Kulkarni of Hunterr fame is being treated with a dash of humour,” says a source.
Rajkummar Rao already has films on similar themes, like Aligarh and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga, to his credit.
Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan actor Ayushmann Khurrana is now tackling yet another hitherto taboo subject in his film Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. Ayushmann plays a cross-functional athlete in the film. He is married to a girl who is actually a guy who has had a sex change, played by Vaani Kapoor.
Different strokes
In the web series called Pati Patni Aur Panga, the trailer of which was released recently, Adah Sharma plays the role of Shivani who was Shiv earlier. Her husband realises that after marriage and goes to court. Earlier titled Man To Man, it was to be a film released in theatres, but the format was changed to suit the changing times.
Other similarly off-beat films which released a while back include the Sonam Kapoor-starrer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga with Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and Rajkummar Rao
Aligarh, starring Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao, and Margarita With A Straw starring Kalki Koechlin who falls in love with a Pakistani girl played by Sayani Gupta
