(The following copy contains spoilers)
Raakesh Rawat’s short film Almari Ka Achaar is a tender, beautiful love story of a homosexual couple in Mumbai. Interestingly, the achaar (pickle) serves as a direct symbol of love in the story, transcending its typical role as a mere condiment or symbol of home and tradition in Indian cinema. Explaining the logic behind the choice, Raakesh shares, “I like the earthiness of the story and the tone and that element of achaar. If my wife and I cook something, we will not share it with anybody. This is how sacred it would be for us. Every couple must be having something personal that they consider their own.”
Raakesh made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed thriller Midnight Delhi in 2018. Almari Ka Achaar authentically and sensitively portrays queer love by deliberately treating it no differently from conventional romance. In a recent interview, actor Roshan Mathew said that he watched many queer love stories to prepare for his role of a homosexual in Moothon to find out how these films differ from heterosexual romance films, only to realise that there are no differences. How does a filmmaker such as Raakesh approach showing the universality of love, while still acknowledging and respecting the specific nuances of homosexual relationships? The filmmaker explains, “I think the balancing act is to keep it simple and treat it tenderly. Why? Because the film shows the love between two people and is a celebration of love for all kinds of audiences. However, as Almari Ka Achaar is a gay film, there are inherent limitations on how much intimacy can be shown on screen, as even slight displays can lead to a different narrative focus and heavy censorship.”
The performances in the film, especially by its lead actors Manwendra Tripathy and Manoj Sharma, come across as natural and authentic thanks to the preparation work involving them by the makers. “They are polar opposites in terms of their approaches towards acting. As a filmmaker, I cannot make one act in a certain way—it has to come from within themselves. It should not look like the actors are merely reacting. Therefore, we did a lot of rehearsals and workshops in the pre-production stage. My two actors and I made the achaar together to create the kind of relationship that would serve as the foundation during the actual filming stage. Actors’ onscreen chemistry does not just come as soon as we start production. They have to have a history and understanding of each other for the film to work. Ultimately, acting can be projected, but it will be visible.”
The filmmaker believes that the Indian audience is not ready for physical intimacy in queer love stories, despite greater exposure to international films such as Call Me By Your Name, Moonlight, and Brokeback Mountain. “Whatever story we tell, we cannot spoon-feed the audience in terms of what is right or what is wrong because censorship and gatekeeping exist in Indian cinema. It also applies to the portrayal of intimacy. It is very difficult to explore it in our cinema due to censorship,” reveals Raakesh. He goes on to add, “Consequently, we portrayed the central relationship in Almari Ka Achaar as platonic love, focusing on emotional intimacy to proactively avoid the potential of external gatekeeping of a film made with such effort.”
Almari Ka Achaar adeptly navigates the complexities of queer love within Indian society. One of the two lovers is a married man, and the film empathetically explores the complications of his two relationships. When his wife finds out that he is gay, her reaction is one of great understanding rather than of sheer shock. However, according to Raakesh, this is not a deliberate portrayal. “We did not know how to approach that particular portion in the film. At the time of filming, we just let our actors interpret the scene with their sensibilities and perform accordingly. It has worked out just fine.” The filmmaker feels that there is a pressing need for more films such as Almari Ka Achaar that portray queer lives with nuanced emotional depth, rather than a singular focus on sadness. “LGBT films mostly show characters who are very sad,” Raakesh notes. “Just because somebody is gay or lesbian, does not mean that they have to be sad all the time.”
Raakesh also highlights the importance of finding relatability in the story. “The characters in the film are so different from our regular films about homosexuality. Whenever there is a homosexuality angle in a film, filmmakers try to cater it to the elite class with college kids or college professors as the protagonists. But the story in our film is about people from daily life whom you can relate to, such as that Doodhwala bhaiya (milk delivery person). You just interact with them without considering their sexuality.”
Mainstream Hindi cinema has started to explore queer love with greater sensitivity, moving beyond stereotypical portrayals in yesteryear films, such as Kal Ho Naa Ho and Dostana to name two. While acknowledging the progress, Raakesh feels that Indian cinema still has a long way to go before it can call itself truly diverse and inclusive. “Our films still have to improve a lot for that evolution to happen. Having said that, there are also quality films that portray queer love from the female protagonist’s point of view, such as the brilliant Geeli Puchhi from director Neeraj Ghaywan in Ajeeb Daastaans that stars Aditi Rao Hydari and Konkona Sen Sharma.”
Almari Ka Achaar represents a crucial step forward for queer representation in Indian cinema. It is set to have its world premiere on July 25, Friday, at the 22nd Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart. The film has been selected for the festival’s "Queer Special Program" section. It has also been selected for the "Queer Qorner" section at Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, thus making its India premiere.