Nyan Marykutty

Starring Jayasurya, the film narrates the story and depicts the challenges faced by a transgender woman who is in the process of a sex change. She comes to terms with her identity. A film that was lauded for its performance at the time of its release, it attempts to normalise trans existence by welcoming Marykutty into society. Directed by Ranjith Sankar, the film opened doors to conversation around trans-sex and transgender. 

Awe! 

Directed by Prashanth Varma, 'Awe' revolves around a heist at a restaurant. Among the hostages are Radha and Krish, a lesbian couple who are planning to get married. During the heist, Radha introduces Krish to her parents as her partner. Her parents are taken aback after they learn that Krish is a woman. While the couple are not the central focus of the film, it gives a normal depiction of same-sex relationship and treats it like any other relationship. 

Inspector Rishi

The web series by JS Nandhini’ sees one of the most respectful queer representation. Policewoman Chitra (Malini Jeevarathnam) plays a lesbian woman fighting off her parents pressuring her to get married, while also finding a way forward with her girlfriend

Naanu Ladies

The film is a dark comedy that follows the journey of two women-Anita, an aspiring actress and Padma, a buddung painter- who fall in love. The film is inspired by director Shailaja Padindala's own life.  The film explores how these two artists in love blossoms and the challenge heteronormative norms

Moothon

Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the film very beautifully captures the romance between Akbar who lives in Lakshwadeep and Amir, a mute man. Akbar is the only person on the island who understands sign language and by its extension, Amir. The film takes us through the journey of their love to how Akbar becomes a well known 'bhai' in Mumbai

Kaathal: The Core

Malayalam superstar Mammootty playing a gay man in itself was a big shift for Malayalm cinema. Him playing a gay man on screen was termed brave and he won hearts with his nuanced performance. The film centers around Mammootty's character who is a closeted gay man and married to a woman. However, his wife seeks divorce after realising his sexuality. Jeo Baby's film deals with homosexuality from the lens of a man engaged in a heterosexual relationshop so as to not disturb the society's conditioning. However, his wife played by Jyotika helps break the stigma by setting themselves both free from the marriage.

Mumbai Police

Back in 2013, it was not common among mainstream actors to embrace queer characcters. Prithviraj Sukumaran, known for doing experimental roles played a gay police officer on screen in this film. The film follows the story of him tracking the murder of his best friend in the police force after he loses his memory. 

En Makan Makilvan / My Son Is Gay 

This is probably Kannada cinema's first feature film that depicts LGBTQ love story. The film tells the story of Varun who comes out to his mother. The film beautifully captures the struggles of coming out to a parent and how parents deals with their child's sexuality. 

Super Deluxe 

'Super Deluxe' is a tale of four compelling stories in which the protagonists' belief systems are challenged. In one of the segmets, Vijay Sethupathi plays a transgender woman named Shilpa who has returned to the family she had abandoned. The film explores the challenges posed by trans people and how society's conditioning leads to humiliation and isolation from the society. On the contrast, we see Shilpa's son Rasukutty being unbother by the gender of  his father as he is yet untouched by the conditioning of the society. 

Paava Kadhaigal 

One of the segments in this anthology portrays the life of 'Suthar'. 'Thangam' directed by Sudha Kongara  features the beautiful, pure-hearted Sathar (Kalidas Jayaram), a transgender person in love with her friend Saravanan (Shanthanu Bhagyaraj), whom she affectionately calls thangam (gold).She even helps him when he falls for her sister Sahira (Bhavani Sre).