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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
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Rainbow Rishta (Hindi/English) (Documentary Series)

By Golu
India hasn't produced that many gay series or shows to talk about (although my blog will probably give you a different statistic). Amazon Prime's 'Rainbow Rishta' comes in as a breath of fresh air. At a time when queer relationship portrayal and dating is somehow focused on negatives, this show depicts life with all its burdens, joys, and the need to keep going on, day after day. It leaves you with a sense of hope, of finding moments of relief in everyday strife, and embracing life for everything it has to offer. Featuring six episodes focusing on three queer couples and three singles, this series gives a more balanced view IMO but also gives you hope.

Gauhati-based lesbian couple Aneez and Sanam, tired of finding space for themselves in their parental homes, are in search of a flat. But their being a couple keeps becoming a deal-breaker, as they go through one refusal after another from prospective landlords. Trinetra Haldar, an MBBS doctor-turned-actor whose trans character left such a strong impact in the second season of ‘Made In Heaven’, speaks of how hard it is to find that special someone who will accept her for who she is. Her story, though, I felt was sort of left midway. She is not mentioned or featured at all in the last two episodes. Once the layers of make-up are off, Drag Queen Lush Monsoon who is such a hit on the gay clubbing circuit in Delhi, is Ayushmann, who keeps wondering just how he will reveal all to his parents. Will he ever be able to? Also what about dating, will the real Ayushman ever be able to be as comfortable as the drag persona is? Sadam, who lives in Imphal, is getting ready to meet someone new from Mumbai: will he be lucky this time around? He has a heavy baggage when his ex lover left him dead with an overdose, so for him to trust anyone is a huge deal.  And finally we have the gay couple Soham & Suresh. They are looking at how to keep working on their stable relationship. Also the primal desire to be a parent, and bring up children, is paramount in their relationship causing some stress. And finally we have intersex Daniella and her prospective groom Joel as they gear up for a wedding ceremony, choosing the most affordable invitation cards, the perfect wedding dress, and finally, the ceremony itself: it is a dream-come-true for the former, coming out of a traumatic past, and advancing towards a future where all, hopefully, be well.

The varied mix of personalities, experiences, plights, and desires shows a full spectrum of life. The show strives because of the six fantastic subjects the makers have chosen and they have done a commendable job of picking most of the folks around the spectrum while also trying to show their own individual struggles. Thankfully, the series doesn’t either dramatize or sensationalize anyone’s stories, but rather approaches them with realism. We do see a hear a lot of back stories especially around Trinetra, Daniella and Sadam, but the show in its limited time, doesn't give us a lot of time to connect with the heavier moments of their past trauma. I understand that maybe the idea was to give hope and that makes sense, but it would also have benefice to see more of family's involvement and acceptance (if, at all) like we see with the beautiful wedding of Danielle and Joel. Despite, Supreme Court of India recently ruling out , yet again, that same sex marriage is still illegal in India. But hey, at least the step is taken in the right direction that we get to see LGBTQ+ people living happily and freely as their authentic selves.  At the end of the day all everyone wants is to be loved and this series beautifully shows the power of love and acceptance, no matter who you are. Personally, for me this was a very welcome effort from the makers and thanks to a platform like Prime to release this. Hopefully more people to get to seeing this and maybe this is an indication that urban Indian society is moving towards a welcome liberalism. (7.5/10)
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