There was quite a buzz around the gay angle in Padmaavat in the run up to the movie. There were rumours that Ranveer and Shahid’s characters share some attraction. Towards the end however, everything got overshadowed by the insane-as-fuck protests by the rabble-rousing Karni Sena.

The film in the end had nothing worth protesting by the Karni goons, something that they themselves sheepishly admitted while withdrawing their opposition to the film. Nowhere else could we see such lunacy except in our mahaan desh.

This brings me to the gay angle. Alauddin Khilji is presented a slave called Mallik Gafoor by his uncle and is to told that he would do whatever Alauddin wanted. Gafoor is portrayed as slightly effeminate. He makes no bones about the fact that he is sexually attracted to Alauddin. Unfortunately, Alauddin’s gayness is only hinted at without any direct dialogues or scenes portraying this, which is sort-of disappointing. There are even times when Gafoor is dismissed by Alauddin when he tries to make a move or two.

I had a few problems with this gay angle apart from the coyness with which Ranveer is made to portray it. First off is the effeminate characteristic of Mallik Gafoor. Bollywood has still not grown up beyond depicting all gays as effeminate when the hard reality is that feminine gays make up only a small part of the gay community. Yes, Alauddin’s character is undeniably bisexual but the lack of openness with which this was shown puts a dampener on the sexuality of the role.

Well, I wish there actually was some attraction between Alauddin and Rawal Ratan Singh. Man, that would have been so fucking hot. Shahid with his six packs is so tantalising and if Alauddin had been actually shown as having the hots for him rather than his Queen, that would really have been something. Hahahaha…