Made in Heaven 2: How the show continues to champion LGBTQIA+ rights

The lavish Indian wedding spectacle has been a centerpiece of Hindi entertainment for a long time However what lurks behind this performative display of love has been far less examined ndash and Made in Heaven does exactly this ndash it selfreflexively explores the dark side of Indiarsquos elite With Season 2 releasing tomorrow we are exploring what makes this show specialThe series follows mainly two protagonists Tara and Karan who are founderpartners of Made in Heaven ndash a Delhibased wedding consultancy and planning agency They are tasked with designing and selling lsquoheavenrsquo to their uberrich clienteleThe show uses the subtext of the different weddings that they plan to delve deeper into Tara and Karanrsquos private dysfunctional hellish landscapesMade in Heaven is a show that truly champions LGBTQIA identities queer rights and protest The social and political shame stigma discrimination faced by Indian queer people and reaffirmation of queer identity is tenderly portrayed unlike in so many mainstream films and television where queer characters and by extension their lived experiences have been disregarded ridiculed or used as comic reliefArjun Mathur plays Karan a closeted gay man who is grappling with the emotional consequences of hiding part of his identity The show never attempts to police choice sex or desire Karan has several onenight stands whom he hushedly asks to leave in the morning Queer desire is portrayed in an achingly tender and disarmingly sensitive manner It builds cinematic sensualities to portray what queer desire really at its heart is ndash essentially humanHowever his secret exploits of pleasure and pursuit of emotional intimacy are juxtaposed by memories and the lingering grief of social familial and selfinflicted childhood trauma The adult Karan leads a double life which is often suffocating and this is visually also represented by often framing him behind window bars and closed gatesKaran lives in perpetual terror of authentically leading his life in a country which criminalizes homosexuality As the show progresses Karanrsquos landlord gets increasingly suspicious about him entertaining multiple lsquomale friendsrsquo frequently and secretly installs a security camera in his bedroomThe audience is drawn into believing that he is homophobic and collecting evidence to turn in to the police but the title of the episode lsquoA Marriage of Conveniencersquo betrays that all is not what it may seem This is later confirmed when the landlordrsquos wife catches him masturbating to the footageThe conversation between the landlord and his wife is particularly striking ndash he claims he is engaging in lsquowatchful surveillancersquo but in his attempt to convince not only his wife but also himself of his heterosexuality one senses the futile attempt at veiling pleasure shame and loss of part of oneselfWhen he turns in the evidence to the police to appease his wifersquos fears about him being gay the camera zooms in on him watching Karan being arrested from behind the bars of a window much like Karan earlier was The show brings out the complex simultaneous hypocrisy and internal battle of an oppressed figure turned oppressor unwilling to fully claim or relinquish his identity in a country that will ostracize him to the marginsThat Made in Heaven depicts surveillance a reality that queer people constantly grapple with in the incredibly intimate space of the bedroom also brings up questions of freedom and desire ndash who are truly lsquofreersquo to choose their sexual andor romantic partners and celebrate onersquos relationships Who is permitted to exercise the full extent of their agency when it comes to expression of sexual and romantic desire and pursue intimacy and in which spacesKaran spends several nights in jail where he is brutally abused by a policeman upon refusing to gratify his sexual desire This points to the violation of privacy even within supposedly lsquosafersquo spaces such as the home for queer people and once again the hypocrisy of oppressors who exploit the marginalized for the same clandestine pleasures they apprehend them for reflecting the lived realities of many Indian nonurban andor economically underprivileged queer peopleUnlike how queer characters have conventionally been depicted in Indian entertainment Karanrsquos sexual orientation is not just a plotbuilding device but an integral real part of his identity and his life Throughout the show one senses both torture and tenderness in the reluctant yet desperate closetting of his identity Karanrsquos encounter with the law leads him to reassess his journey of selfacceptance and he eventually files a PIL against Section 377 The first season closes with Karan coming out and engaging in actively rallying and protestsThe show has further cemented its stance on LGBTQIA rights in India by bringing Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju Karnatakarsquos first trans doctor onboard for the second season of the show In discussing her character with Outlook India she said that despite being professionally successful her character on the show grapples with acceptance as a trans woman in her personal life especially when it comes to finding loveldquoThrough this character I want people to see that trans women are women and deserve every right to be treated as such Trans people in general are human beings and we deserve opportunity love respect success In a country where 9937 of us are discarded by our biological families I want society to see that a little acceptance goes a long wayrdquo she saidThe series is truly paving the way for authentic queer representation in mainstream Indian visual content and itrsquos about time for others to follow We canrsquot wait to see how the creators and cast will further these queer narrative arcs in Season 2lsquoMade in Heavenrsquo season 2 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on August 10