The lesbian interest movie industry has made a few advances in the last 20 years. Here are some lesbian interest movies featuring Indian families.
I Can’t Think Straight. A movie by Shamim Sarif released in 2008. Tala is a British Indian who is dating and due to marry Ali. Things go a little awry when Tala meets Ali’s best friend Layla and there is an immediate attraction between them. The film explores the conflicts between Tala’s family values and her family’s opinion versus her growing affection for Layla.
The World Unseen. Also by Shamim Sarif and released in 2007. This focuses on the south African Indian community and is based in 1952. Amina, a free spirited and modern woman who runs a restaurant meets and falls in love with Miriam, who to all intents and purposes is a traditional Indian housewife. Throw into the picture a background of apartheid which features in this movie and you have a movie that not only challenges the sexuality but race issues of the era explored.
Nina’s Heavenly Delights. Movie by Pratibha Palmer released in 2006. Nina is a British Indian who grew up in Glasgow but currently living in london to avoid an arranged marriage. On her father’s death she is forced to go back to Glasgow to sort out his affairs which include an indian restaurant. The restaurant is in financial trouble and to try to save it, and to fulfill her fathers wishes, she enters the restaurant in a cooking competition. The restaurant is co-owned by Lisa and during the preparation for the competition, Lisa and Nina develop a growing attraction for each other. A major obstacle to a relationship developing is Nina’s fear of how her mother will react to her as a lesbian.
Fire. A movie by Deepa Mehta released in 1996. A trail blazer released in India to riots and demonstrations because of the lesbian content. Fire is a movie about a traditional Indian girl who gets married but soon finds her new husbands attentions are otherwise occupied. The newly weds move in with the husbands brother and his wife. That marriage also has its problems which could be attributed to their inability to have children. A relationship soon develops between both women which given their values and community seems doomed to end in tragedy.
These are just a handful of lesbian interest movies with an Indian flavor.