Enjoy this Pride month with Tasveer’s pick of South Asian LGBTQ films and literature.

Recommended Films

The Lonely Prince Poster

The Lonely Prince
(Shivin & Sunny)

A lonely Prince, drowning in melancholy, invites a Sculptor to his court to create a piece of art just for him. Read More

Emergence Out of the Shadows

Emergence- Out of the Shadows
(Vinay Giridhar)

For Kayden, Jag, and Amar, awakening to and expressing their sexuality within conservative South Asian families was a lonely and terrifying experience.Read More

I Know Her

I Know Her
(Fawzia Mirza)

In the afterglow of a seemingly fated hookup, two women realize that perhaps they have a little too much in common.

Pride Protest

Pride & Protest
(Blaise Singh)

After the recent media frenzy around the Birmingham anti-LGBTQ+ protests against relationships education in primary schools by a group of Muslim community members,Read More

Sheer Qorma

Sheer Qorma
(Faraz Ansari)

Sheer Qorma is a story of belonging and acceptance, identity and family, and how it comes together under one roof,Read More

Miss Man

Miss Man
(Tathagata Ghosh)

A young trans woman from rural Bengal eschews social and cultural pressures at every stage of self-realisation.Read More

Yeh Freedom life 1

Yeh Freedom Life
(Priya Sen)

Filmed in Delhi, ‘Yeh Freedom Life / This Freedom Life’ tries to keep up with its protagonists, as they manoeuvre erratic and unpredictable love. Read More

The Booth
(Rohin Raveendran)

A female frisking booth inside a crowded shopping mall stands as a silent ally to a forbidden romance.

The Lip Readers

The Lip Readers
(Erik Spink)

Alex stalks a recent lover and discovers some lips are best left unread.

Loev

Loev
(Sudhanshu Saria)

A weekend trip between friends takes a sudden turn, making them each question what love is and what it means to them.

SUNDAY

Sunday
(Arun Fulara)

When the middle-aged Kamble makes his weekly visit to the neighbourhood barber shop, it’s not just for a shave. Read More

Nanu Ladies

Naanu Ladies
(Shailaja Padindala)

Naanu Ladies revolves around two women who fall in love and attempt to break away from a heteronormative culture, fighting the struggles of a middle class life. Read More

Recommended Books

The Henna Wars

The Henna Wars
(Adiba Jaigirdar)

Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Read More

Radiant Fugitives

Radiant Fugitives
(Nawaaz Ahmed)

Working as a consultant for Kamala Harris’s attorney general campaign in Obama-era San Francisco, Seema has constructed a successful life for herself in the West, despite still struggling with her father’s long-ago decision to exile her from the family after she came out as lesbian. Read More

Antiman

Antiman
(Rajiv Mohabir)

Growing up a Guyanese Indian immigrant in Central Florida, Rajiv Mohabir is fascinated by his family’s stifled Hindu history and the legacy of his ancestors, who were indentured laborers on British sugarcane plantations. Read More

Beyond the Gender Binary

Beyond the Gender Binary
(Alok Vaid-Menon)

In ‘Beyond the Gender Binary’, Alok Vaid-Menon challenges the world to see gender not in black and white, but in full color. Read More

Straight to Normal

Straight to Normal
(Sharif  D. Rangnekar)

‘God is the reason why I am who I am. Nature is the reason why I am who I am. I don’t want to die because of who I am.’ Read More

The World That Belongs To Us

The World That Belongs To Us
(Aditi Angiras & Akhil Katyal)

This first-of-its-kind anthology brings together the best of contemporary queer poetry from South Asia, both from the subcontinent and its many diasporas. Read More

If They Come For US

If They Come For Us
(Fatimah Asghar)

From a co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series Brown Girls comes an imaginative, soulful debut poetry that collection captures the experiences of being a young Pakistani Muslim woman in contemporary America.Read More

The Carpet Weaver

The Carpet Weaver
(Nemat Sadat)

Afghanistan, 1977. Kanishka Nurzada, the son of a leading carpet seller, falls in love with his friend Maihan, with whom he shares his first kiss at the age of sixteen.Read More

you cant be serious

You Can’t Be Serious
(Kal Penn)

The star of the Harold and Kumar franchise, House, and Designated Survivor recounts why he rejected the advice of his aunties and guidance counselors and, instead of becoming a doctor or “something practical,” Read More