Boy meets girl, they go on a road trip and fall in love. We have watched this film several times before. However, Harish Vyas’ Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele has a very different twist with it. Mansi, a lesbian, and Veer, a closeted gay man, meet at an LGBT party after running away from home. Mansi, whose girlfriend has left her alone with her creepy roommate, decides to stay with Veer instead. They are both practically strangers, however, there is an instant connection between them.
After Veer’s secret boyfriend Akshay reveals he cannot ever leave his wife, Mansi decides to take Veer along on a road trip to McLeod Ganj to surprise her girlfriend. On the way, Veer opens up about his situation. His father, a retired Army officer, was a disciplinarian, but never affectionate towards him. This meant that Veer had to keep his sexuality to himself, until he met Mansi. On the other hand, Mansi talks about her father, who, despite being loving, viewed her sexuality as a disease.
The duo have a fun road trip. They do ‘cool’ things like run away from a dhaba in their speeding car without paying the bill. However, they also acknowledge that their connection is deep. In a platonic candlelight dinner, Veer explains to Mansi that there are two types of love, one which also includes lust and the other which is unconditional.
A lot of things happen in this film that is a direct result of their sexuality. Despite being in a post Section 377 world, the society around them refuses to accept them. However, Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele is not just a ‘Queer Pain’ film. These are the kind of films in which the queer experience is equated with pain. Films which talk about discrimination faced by LGBTQ people, or the trauma they face while being closeted, are queer pain films.
You may ask, Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele features all of that, so why is it not a queer pain film? That is because the heart of the film lies in friendship and alliance. A film based in a place which is more accepting of the LGBTQ community, can have a film where there is no pain associated with the queer experience. That’s how we get a Schitt’s Creek or Call Me By Your Name. However, in India, where there is still rampant homophobia and transphobia, a film will have to portray realistic themes of queer pain.
Anshuman Jha is a wonderful actor and his character Veer is extremely relatable. However, it is Zareen Khan’s Mansi that makes the film so different. It is almost exhilarating to see a woman, not only own up her sexuality, but also tell everyone fearlessly. She uses the word lesbian, which in Indian queer films are rarely heard. In a scene, she tells her girlfriend’s father that they are in love with each other. She even tells her parents, through a letter, before running away from home. This is rare, especially in the Indian context, where due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many queer people who have moved back home are forced to live a lie.
There are a lot of cracks in the film. For starters, it could have been better fleshed out. A lot of scenes and dialogues in the film feel underwhelming. On the other hand, the big twist in the film comes a little too late, and the film could have benefitted from cutting down on the song sequences.
However, Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele is also a step in the right direction. It normalises the fact that there are more to queer people than their sexuality and gender identity. By showing four different queer characters, the film makes it a little bit easier to break the stereotypes surrounding different ‘types’ of queer people. The film might not be an unforgettable one, but it does right by the community it tries to represent.
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