One’s sexual orientation should be nobody’s concern: Rajkummar Rao

One’s sexual orientation should be nobody’s business, says “Badhaai Do” actor Rajkummar Rao who hopes there is more honest representation of LGBTQI community in cinema going forward.

The film, billed as a spiritual sequel to the 2018 hit “Badhaai Ho!”, follows characters played by Rao and Bhumi Pednekar as two closeted homosexuals who enter into a marriage of convenience to keep conservative family members at bay and protect their respective partners. Rao plays Shardul Thakur, a police officer who is gay, in the film directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Rao’s senior from the Film and Television Institute of India.

The National Award winner said “Badhaai Do” is an attempt at representing the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex) community on screen as honestly as possible.

“The whole point is to normalise everything. I have known so many people who are from the queer community. There are people like Shardul (his character). What they do inside their bedrooms is not our concern. The sexual orientation should be nobody’s concern... it is a very personal thing,” the 37-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.

Speaking of the change in the screen representation over the years, he said, “I hope there is more honest representation and inclusiveness in cinema in future.”

“The acceptance is there but a big section of society is not being able to accept somebody being gay or queer. We want to normalise the whole taboo behind being gay...” he added.

For the role, the actor said, he relied on Kulkarni’s vision and script penned by Akshat Ghildial and Suman Adhikary. (PTI)