'Being a gay woman is easier in Mumbai'

Swara: The day the Sheer Qorma trailer released, an assistant director I've worked in the past, gushed how happy she was that I was playing a gay character. She is lesbian and has been trying to get her parents to come around. Her family has dismissed her choice and wants her to get therapy. She asked if she could work on the film, because if she was part of the crew, her family would at least watch it. I realised how powerful film can be for social change.

Shabana: Yes. I play a parent who has reservations about her daughter's sexual orientation, and for me to say, 'yeh kudrat ke khilaf hai' is something I don't believe in. I'm saying exactly the opposite of what I, Shabana, believes. But the character graph was so very important that it's a story that had to be told.

A couple of years ago, I did this American film, Signature Move, which was screened at Tribeca. I played a mother who moves into her daughter's home after her husband has passed away and spends all her time through looking through binoculars at prospective husbands for her daughter. Later, not only do I realise that she is gay, but that she is also a lucha libre wrestler. That was more comedy; this is much more emotional.

Mumbai the LGBTQi mecca

Shabana: Deepa Mehta's Fire released in 1997. Since then, there's so much more discussion on queer subjects, and not just in films. If you decided to make a queer film now, you'll have a safer passage than you did then.

Faraz: I remember watching Fire at Regal Cinema. I was underage but had managed to get access because my dad knew somebody who worked at the theatre. I was so moved and happy to learn that there are more people like myself in this world. Before that, nobody had attempted a true representation of same-sex relationships in Indian cinema.

Haima: Being queer is much easier in Mumbai than in other [Indian] cities. Shruti and I met each other in college. The non-judgmental, liberal atmosphere on campus helped our relationship blossom. The fact that the college was accepting and full of strong feminist women - we even had a queer professor - helped us come to terms with our sexuality.

Shruti: It was so liberal that that you'd have to be closeted if you were homophobic, in fact!

Shabana: What you just said is significant. This is true transformation.

Shruti: But when you move from a safe space such as that one into society, you feel at sea. That's when you feel the discrimination. Although we live together now, renting an apartment is always difficult. There's prejudice everywhere. For instance, I have stopped going to gynaecologists. For instance, I have stopped going to gynaecologists. There are always uncomfortable questions asked regarding your sexuality that are far from relevant to the issue. Similarly, trans people have it much worse when it comes to healthcare.

Haima: Bathroom signages depicting skirt and pants to differentiate men and women can be quite stressful for trans and non binary people. Every time I step inside the ladies restroom, I get the stares just because I don't fit into the accepted idea of a woman.

Love is love

Swara: I've never played a gay character, and so, while I did wonder if I should speak to a gay person before filming, I later asked myself if I would have done it before playing a heterosexual. I decided against it. I don't know if that was right but I wanted to discover the character within me.