Pride Month 2026: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor To Rajkummar Rao, Actors Who Broke Stereotypes With Queer Characters

For many decades, representations of LGBTQ+ identities in mainstream Bollywood have been limited to mere stereotypes in the form of jokes or tragedies or minor characters. However, over the last few decades, Indian cinema has gone through quite a revolution. Now, there is a trend of creating meaningful and sensitive portrayals in films by giving equal importance to queer and transgender lives.

As a matter of fact, Bollywood today is experiencing its brightest moments when many of its famous stars take active part in transforming LGBTQ+ representation by promoting it within mainstream cinema in India. Once upon a time, making a film about a same-sex relationship was considered too big a risk to undertake. But it started changing with the emergence of a new breed of actors.

Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar — Badhaai Do (2022)

In terms of acting, Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar performed extremely well in their roles as a homosexual policeman and lesbian teacher, respectively, who engage in a relationship for love’s sake and perform a ‘lavender marriage’ to please their families.

Vaani Kapoor — Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021)

Maanvi was played by Vaani Kapoor, and she is a transgender woman who loves a cisgender man. The film addresses issues of identity, discrimination, and acceptance by shattering the stereotypes associated with transgender people. The empathy that the movie shows towards transgender people distinguishes it from others because of its unique approach.

Ayushmann Khurrana — Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)

Ayushmann Khurrana, known for selecting socially relevant topics, made history by playing the role of Kartik, an assertive and expressive homosexual who wants to be able to love openly. Using the platform of a light romantic comedy, Khurrana was able to present the audience with a same-sex relationship that would seem natural to them.

Sonam Kapoor — Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019)

The character of Sweety, portrayed by Sonam Kapoor, was possibly one of the biggest roles that she has played. She had to act as a girl who was fighting with herself to let her family know about her true identity. This film made people question themselves about their views about love and acceptance.

Fawad Khan — Kapoor & Sons (2016)

The movie presents a unique and groundbreaking portrayal through Fawad Khan’s character who acted as Rahul, a successful writer dealing with issues pertaining to his sexual orientation. The director chose not to portray him based on any stereotype but rather as an individual dealing with rejection, vulnerability, and finally acceptance.

Manoj Bajpayee — Aligarh (2015)

Considered one of the best performances of Manoj Bajpayee’s acting career, this movie starred the actor as Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, an actual professor whose life became a target for scrutiny because of the videos taken of him in a private sexual encounter. Through a subtle yet poignant acting role, Manoj Bajpayee showed the character’s strength amid prejudice from society.

Kalki Koechlin — Margarita, with a Straw (2014)

The character played by Kalki Koechlin won her critical recognition as Laila, a girl with cerebral palsy struggling with her bisexual orientation. The movie impressed audiences by bringing together the subject of disability along with that of sexuality, a combination rarely explored in Indian as well as world cinema.

The process by which the Bollywood industry started telling inclusive stories has been gradual and impressive. From the time when there was a public backlash towards Deepa Mehta’s movie, Fire in 1996, to today’s critically-acclaimed movies such as Badhaai Do and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, much progress has been made in including more LGBTQ+ stories into mainstream cinema.

Certainly, there is room for improvement especially with regards to creating more roles for queer and transgender actors who can play themselves in stories related to their lived experiences. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the participation of well-known Bollywood stars has certainly been an instrumental factor that paved the way for more visibility and acceptance of these types of stories. Nowadays, the inclusion of LGBTQ+ stories in Bollywood cinema has become a normative phenomenon.

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