Rainbow Rishta review: A fine example of how much difference lived experiences can do to a narrative about LGBTQIA+

Cast: Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Aneez Saikia and Sanam Choudhary, Soham Sengupta and Suresh Ramdas, and Sadam Hanjabam

Director: Jaydeep Sarkar

I am used to the representation of queer community in Hollywood. I have also explored queer content from Thailand extensively, and in recent years they have definitely transformed in a big way. The representation overall has moved beyond stereotypes to explore narratives that will be relatable for the community and outside.

However, the representation in Indian films has not been the great so far. It has taken us this long to have a trans actor play a trans role in a mainstream show such as Made in Heaven. So when I heard about the premiere of Rainbow Rishta at Jio MAMI 2023, I was skeptical. Yes, the cast of the show is from the queer community, so is the majority of the team behind the camera as well, but I waited until the screening to make up my mind. Was I harsh in my judgment? Maybe so, but I reaped rewards in the very first moments of the docu-series.

The show attempts to showcase six queer stories. They are non-scripted and produced by Vice Media, and everything about the two episodes that I saw at the press screening celebrates love in rainbow colours. It is romantic, it is real, and the conflicts in this story are not coloured by tags and labels. The more you watch Rainbow Rishta, the more you understand that the docuseries doesn’t want to set itself apart because of the queer cast members and their stories. Instead, they want the audiences at large to understand that sexuality and gender is a part of an identity, yes, but that shouldn’t alienate them from a community. Like director Jaydeep Sarkar rightly said after the screener, whether a trans person, a lesbian person or a straight person eats two samosas, they get gas.

The idea to make these characters exotic, or make them live through nothing but struggles to incite a reaction from the audiences does nothing but hurt the community, and add to misconceptions and feed into stereotypes that alienate them and even demonise them to an extent. Rainbow Rishta does exactly the opposite, and gives us a chance to see these people beyond their labels. It puts visuals to their fear that sounds similar to anyone their age. House hunting troubles, the fear of living alone, coming to an empty home, and putting together a wedding, these are struggles that move the audiences at larger towards relating to the community.

Rainbow Rishta is exactly what Pride is all about — celebrating self and love — wherever it falls on the spectrum. Now, I am looking forward to the rest of the episodes, ready to burst out in giggles and laugh.

Rating: 3.5

Priyanka Sundar is a film journalist who covers films and series of different languages with a special focus on identity and gender politics.