Chum Darang from Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh is all set to make her first Bollywood debut with film ‘Badhai Do’ starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar.
Arunachal’s Chum Darang in Bollywood:
Chum Darang took the good news to its official social media feed where she shared the trailer of ‘Badhai ho’ and wrote, “My first. Badhai Do! It’s one of those films that came our way, touched our hearts in ways we can’t explain. Some journeys are meant to be remembered forever. Ab aap dekho trailer aur hume (Now you watch the trailer and us) #BadhaaiDo (emojis).”
About the trailer:
The trailer of ‘Badhaai Do’ was released on January 25 which showed Chum Darang sharing screen-space with Bhumi Pednekar and Rajkummar Rao. The film, to be released on February 11, is a comedy drama laced with social issues like homosexuality. The film is directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni.
The film trailer shows Bhumi Pednekar’s character Suman as a physical education teacher, who is under constant pressure from her mother to marry. Faced with similar pressure, Rajkummar Rao, who plays a police officer, suggests Suman an option – a marriage of convenience, or precisely a lavender marriage. Chum Darang plays the character of Suman’s partner.
About Chum Darang:
Chum Darang is a model-actor from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. She represented India at the Miss Asia World in 2017 and was adjudged 5th runners-up in the finale. She won the “Miss Internet” sub-title by securing the highest number of votes in the Miss Asia World contest held at Lebanon.
About Bhumi Pednekar:
Born on July 18, 1989 Bhumi Pednekar Kick start her career with rom-com Dum Laga Ke Haisha opposite Ayushman Khurana.
The journalist Priyanka Roy of The Telegraph wrote in 2019 that Pednekar specialises in playing “women of fortitude with a strong moral fibre, mostly hailing from small towns”.
In 2019, Pednekar began a campaign named Climate Warrior to raise awareness on environmental protection and global warming. Besides she is vocal about issues such as pay parity and has spoken out about the gender pay gap in Bollywood, calling it “insulting” and “heartbreaking”.
Pednekar was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 40 in 2019, at No. 39 in 2020.
About Rajkummar Rao:
Rajkummar Rao was born as Raj Kumar Yadav on 31 August 1984 in Prem Nagar, Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The actor is widely known as one of the most experimental actors of his generation. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2010. Rao is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards and an Asia Pacific Screen Award.
Homosexuality and Bollywood:
While India, as a country, has come a long way in terms of how we function as a society, there still lie certain aspects that we’re way behind from where we should be i.e our perception towards the LGBT community. Indians, for some reason, consider it to be unnatural for a man to not love another woman and vice versa.
Even though the government of India has officially declared to have no qualms over it, that thinking has not yet transpired in the minds of people. Ayushmann Khurrana’s next film Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan deals with this very thinking of society.
The trailer dropped on the internet today and looks every bit entertaining along with portraying an important message. However, there have been several LGBT movies from Bollywood in the past that have tried to put forward this message.
Every year, June is celebrated as Pride month in honour of the LGBTQIA+ community. The month is celebrated to raise awareness, teach acceptance, discuss pride, history, and above all, express love and compassion for the LGBTQIA+ community. When it comes to depiction of the community, Indian cinema has often been stereotypical, crude, caricaturish and derogatory towards the community.
