Sonal Chauhan calls for better LGBT representation in Bollywood

The conversations around the evolving portrayal of the queer community in Bollywood have increased manifold in the recent past

The conversations around the evolving portrayal of the queer community in Bollywood have increased manifold in the recent past. But actor Sonal Chauhan feels the representation is still skewed.

Sonal Chauhan made her Bollywood debut in 2008 with Jannat

“Queer as well as transgender community need to be given more opportunities in the industry, so that they get a platform to showcase their talents,” says Chauhan. And she wants this to be rectified by making way for roles and projects for them that don’t come stitched with labels of any kind.

“By representation, I don’t mean roles where they are playing someone from LGBTQ+ community, but characters not specific to them. They should be given opportunities to play different roles, write, direct or as technicians. They need more representation, and they need to be out there at least like everyone else’s,” she adds.

The Paltan (2018) actor goes on to add that she knows many from the community, who are immensely talented, but are waiting for the right platform to showcase it.

“I have a lot of friends from the LGBT community, and I know how talented they are. I feel that they are still not getting their due deal. I would love to see them playing all kinds of characters and not just limited to an image. They are stereotyped in the industry, and it would be a nice change if it didn’t happen to them,” she mentions.

Work-wise, Chauhan says she is lucky that her shoots weren’t disrupted because of the surge in the cases recently. “The year has started on a packed note. I have been shooting non-stop,” says the actor who has worked in Hindi as well as Telugu film industry.