Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui - Can't fall in love with you!

Ayushmann Khurrana as body builder Manu Munjal in 'Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui'. (Image: Screen grab)

The idea of gender and sex is so intertwined in India that people use them as they please, consider them interchangeable and don't understand its fluidity, manifestations and pluralism. How often we hear people referring to others as "males" and "females" instead of their gender - well, to each of them, I would like to say "I'm more than my vagina!"

There have been many movies that have tried to deal with the idea of sexuality and the non-heteronormative behaviours around it. Some have dealt with it with purpose and passion like Fire by Deepa Mehta (I remember as a schoolgirl, I couldn't resist watching it, but it was a big taboo for me at home). Some have made pure mockery of the idea of homosexuality and have been downright cheap and homophobic. Examples of this include Ek Ladki ko Dekha and Dostana. 

While we talk about homosexuality, gender transition is at another level. Perhaps an Indian movie that has done justice to this at the closest is the Tamil movie Super Deluxe. Vijay Sethupathi (as always, always, always) did an extremely convincing job of the transgender woman, particular as a mother that he played. Also, Ryan Mary Kitty was a beautiful representation of the struggles of transgender women with police and the communities. However, the transgender woman in Kya Kool Hain Hum was always referred to with incorrect male pronouns and completely mocked by saying, "Kiran is not my sister. He is my brother!"

Also, the way gay men are showcased oozes stereotypes (women as lesbians and bisexuals don't even exist; patriarchy, that's what it's called!). There is a certain way they are shown, to bring comic relief, to be made a mockery of (Kantabai of Kal Ho Na Ho worried about Saif Ali Khan or the portrayal of the gay man in Partner). Perhaps the depiction of the cop in Aarya on Disney+Hotstar is a decent one with no frills and fancies. 

The problem I have with cinema in its portrayal of intersectionality or complex nuances is its inability to take a "risk" in making it convincing. We will continue to have savarna women who are fair-skinned who will play the role of Sri Lankan Tamils (Samantha in The Family Man 2) painting themselves black, and cisgender women (who conform to the gender they are assigned at birth and the ones they identify with too) playing trans women in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (Vani Kapoor playing Manvi). Why can't we dare to be more honest? While I do not say that Vani fooled around with the character (in fact, she tried to be her convincing best and this may have been one of her more serious films), I continue to quarrel with the cinema makers on why they don't believe in casting people from the community. I'm told that the character of the friend is played by a member of the community, which is fantastic, if true.

Also read: What do trans people think of trans representation in Indian ads?

Now, coming to the movie itself. Toxic masculinity bleeds the moment I see the protagonist - Punjabi boy, good-looking, fair-skinned, oozing "masculinity", throwing gaalis easily, playing with facial hair, well-to-do family, only boy, pampered - Uff, the privilege goes on to nauseate me. The boy who is a gym instructor, waiting to make it big as GOAT (greatest of all time athlete) typically falls in love with the Zumba instructor, whom he sees as feminine, beautiful and graceful. The tickle to my funny bones is when all the participants in the Zumba class are women and all the participants for the gym are men! Woah - so much for stereotyping!

Pretty girl (as we are made to think) falls head over heals for macho man (typical) who is waiting to take her to bed from the time he sets eyes on her. The rotten portrayal of sexual urges gets slightly tempered with some genuine looking sex scenes and foreplays. At least the new generation of actors are open about making the scenes convincing and there is no awkwardness in the scenes. 

The twist is that Vani identifies herself as a transgender woman and Ayushmann Khurrana is devastated about the fact that he "slept with another man". It takes a lot of convincing for him and the audiences to see that transition is critical, that the individual continues to be the same person, that the emotions are real and that they need courage to take the bold step. What it does not engage with enough is that the issue is rampant, more and more children and adolescents are gender non-conforming today and that identity is one's right and the community, family and system need to accept and enable this. There was a small reference to the resistance that transgender people face from family and society, but the fact that Vani Kapoor comes from an affluent family (a Brigadier's daughter), her struggles just about begin to convey the problems of real transgender people. For instance, she is able to access medical support, lasers, clothes and stay comfortably (the job as a Zumba instructor is only to divert her mind). 

The struggles of transgender people are far deeper than any of this. Being thrown out of homes, schools, friends circles, regular sexual, physical and emotional abuse, staying on the streets with only begging or sex work as livelihood options, no access to ID cards…nothing came even close to this in the movie.

The icing on the cake that totally made me switch off my OTT was the hero they made of Manu (Ayushmann Khurrana) for "accepting" Manvi despite knowing she is a transgender woman. That too after meeting a counsellor! The same guy who fails his GOAT qualification each time suddenly becomes macho enough to win the competition, I mean seriously?! Ayushmann Khurrana has also not personally understood the idea of gender enough when he showcases nailpaint on himself to call himself gender fluid. Like that's all it's about!

When are we going to stop patronising men for what they do? When are we going to have open and honest movie to portray reality and not the ideal? When are we truly going to be inclusive and understand intersectional feminism enough to actually have people from the movement in real cinema? It's only then that we will all be able to pursue our own Ashiqui with the movies!