Entrepreneur turned filmmaker, actor Nikhil Nanda shares his opinions on awareness and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. Movies like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, and web series OTT have been made on the subject, but they don’t help much, says Nikhil.
“Awareness has increased but acceptance is only lip service, this is what I feel. These movies have been made with a certain objective and commercial angle to them. They do not serve the purpose of making people more sensitive towards these relationships. The sensitization level has to be much higher,” he says.
He says that Indian society has always been all encompassing. “Our culture and our religion have always been very, very protective and accepting of the LGBTQ or the transgender as we call them. Even in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas are in a hideout for one year, just as women, or transgenders. So probably we should internalise this and go back to our roots, and bring about the change that prevailed 3000-4000 years back,” he says.
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Jun 8, 2026Talking about the ongoing Pride month, he says, “The pride parade has become more of a commercial venture than anything else. In today's world, everything has to make commercial sense. Only then it is successful. And that's what this particular campaign is also doing. Yes, it is creating awareness. Yes, it is sensitising people, but probably more commercially than in real terms. In real terms, we need to go back to our roots
