This Indian series is being sold as a story about a gay man falling for his straight best friend but honestly, at its heart, it's really about friendship and what friendship can look like when it gets complicated and messy and emotionally loaded. It's available on the YouTube channel of Last Leaf Pictures, seven episodes of about 30 minutes each. I had mixed feelings throughout and a big part of that comes down to how I felt about one of the lead characters, but more on that in a bit. Anshul and Kavith are the two men at the centre of everything. They first meet on a train heading to Delhi, both of them not really ready to go back to their hometowns. They get off midway, turn around and head back to Mumbai to give themselves one more shot at the life they want there. Anshul is an aspiring actor with a young son back in Delhi living with his grandmother. Kavith is gay, freshly out of yet another relationship, his 17th by his own count over the years. The two strike up this unusu...
Hind is a thirty-year-old actress who is currently starring in a play directed by her husband, Taoufik. The weird part is that the play is actually based on the real, tragic life stories of Hind and her brother Mehdi, who is a famous singer. Taoufik is older and verbally mean, and since the couple is totally broke, Mehdi is always there to help his sister out both with money and emotional support. They are incredibly close. At the same time, Mehdi is getting ready to marry a girl, even though he’s completely torn apart because his secret boyfriend is miserable about the wedding. Hind is also totally fed up with her husband’s behavior and decides to stop hiding from her past. She goes to see her mother, which triggers childhood memories that suggest Mehdi was probably abused by a family friend back in the day. I couldn’t quite tell exactly why Hind was so incredibly bitter toward her mom, but the visit at least helps her stop the cycle of resentment and violence. Sadly, Mehdi never gets that kind of peace. Right after he decides to be true to himself and calls off the engagement, his lover gets so angry that he actually murders him. It’s incredibly ironic that he’s killed by the person who loved him right when he finally chose to be honest about his identity.
Like I mentioned before, even though a gay character is a lead, the movie is really more about Hind and the cleaning lady at the theater. This lady, Auntie Aroussia, becomes a huge emotional anchor for Hind and really cares for Mehdi, too. I think the goal was to show how these women struggle in a culture dominated by men. You really see the friendship between Hind and Auntie Aroussia, Mehdi’s lover, Sarra, and eventually her own mother. Hind finally learns to stand up for herself and gets past her internal hang-ups. Mehdi’s side of the story really shows the friction between what he actually wants and what his conservative world expects of him. Just for my own selfish reasons, I really wish the movie gave way more details about Mehdi’s life, his history, and his sexuality. I’m glad they gave him some dignity, but even though I’ve traveled to Tunisia, this didn't give me much of a feel for what it’s actually like to be gay there. It was so sad that the person who loved him was the one who stabbed him; I really wanted to see more of their specific story. The music was a bit annoying and the directing was shaky, but the main actors did a solid job. I’ve always been fascinated by gay stories from Africa and the Middle East, so Mehdi’s subplot was great to see. I definitely want more content like this.
It’s a solid effort that treats its gay lead with dignity, even if the thriller ending is heartbreaking and the production feels a bit rough. (6/10)
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