Amazon Prime Video’s new anthology series Modern Love Mumbai premiered on May 13. The series features six stories of love all set in Mumbai, among which is Baai, which stars Pratik Gandhi, Ranveer Brar, and Tanuja. The film focuses on a story about a gay couple and how the protagonist hid his sexuality from his grandmother. However, this second episode is curiously missing from Modern Love Mumbai available in UAE.
They are speculations that the nation’s policies are strict against the portrayal of LGBTQ romance. A few social media users posted that Baai and Made in Heaven, another show featuring a gay protagonist are unavailable in the country.
Director by Hansal Mehta, Baai is the romance between Manzar(Pratik Gandhi) and Rajveer(Ranveer Brar) and how Manzar hides it from his grandmother Tanuja. This episode has won accolades for its sensitive portrayal of LGBTQ community and gay romance.
Talking about it Prateek says, “It is a very well written character. So, I had to be present there with all my sensitivity and sensibility and go with the flow. It was a conscious decision that we did not want to portray this character in a particular way or fashion. That doesn’t work. I can talk about how Gujarati characters are presented, as an example. They talk a certain way, there is a fafda or dhokhla on a plate in every frame. That’s not how it works. Similarly, here also, we never wanted to put it in a certain box.”
A scene in the episode about the kiss has amused and puzzled the viewers. It is equal parts passion and old-school awkwardness. The cast says they have got a lot of positive feedback for their performance.
