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...
The season kicks off with community activator and actor Grayson Goffe heading over to Australia to be part of the 50 years of world gay pride celebrations in Sydney. He spends time with First Nation leaders and meets trailblazers from the world of stage and screen, drag queens included. Episode 2 keeps us in Sydney where Grayson attends his very first Mardi Gras, connects with First Nation icon Crystal Love, and marches across the Sydney Harbour Bridge alongside tens of thousands of people celebrating 50 years of queer liberation. Episode 3 shifts gears and introduces us to actress and presenter Aroha Newby and her partner Pooja who are hoping to start a family. Since there's very little information out there for lesbian couples navigating pregnancy in Aotearoa, Aroha sets off on a hikoi to figure out what resources actually exist and what the whole thing costs. Episodes 4 and 5 are a two parter following actress Awa Puna who found herself on the frontlines in March 2023 protesting against anti trans activist Posie Parker and members of Destiny Church. Her story digs into how trans people in Aotearoa stay safe and grounded in a world full of anti trans noise, and looks closely at the role family plays in the queer community, whether that's chosen family or blood. The final episode brings in gay sports personalities, most notably Kruze Tangira, a national netball champion and sports commentator for Te Karere, who goes out to explore just how inclusive the sports world in Aotearoa really is when it comes to queer visibility.
My honest first reaction was that I really missed Aniwa from season 1. She had this charm and wit that held everything together and without her, these episodes feel more like separate little documentary short films that don't really talk to each other. There's no single thread pulling the season into one cohesive thing. And look, even season 1 was always going to be a fairly niche watch since most people globally don't have much context around the gay experience within New Zealand, Pacific Island, and Māori communities. But season 2 sometimes goes so deep into its own world that I genuinely lost interest more than a few times. I'm a little embarrassed to admit there were moments where I just didn't care. Now I'm not sure if that says something about my empathy or if it's simply because I had zero personal context to connect with what was being shown. Probably a bit of both. But either way I really didn't enjoy this season and I honestly wonder how many people watching from outside these communities would be able to fully appreciate the effort that clearly went into making it.
It's a well meaning season but it doesn't quite land the way it wants to, at least not for anyone sitting outside its very specific world. (3/10)
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