Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Rainbow Rishta’ on Prime Video, A Docuseries About LGBTQ+ Individuals In India

Despite progress in India’s recognition of homosexual and queer individuals in the last decade (including decriminalizing Section 377 in 2018, which previously prosecuted people engaging in homosexual activity), a recent ruling in October 2023 deemed gay marriage illegal in the populous country. But that doesn’t mean that queer people suddenly don’t exist there or crave love in the same ways as heterosexual couples, and a new Prime Video series Rainbow Rishta puts them in the spotlight.

RAINBOW RISHTA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: All of the subjects of the docuseries are getting set for camera, giving a glimpse into their true personalities prior to when cameras officially begin to roll.

The Gist: Rainbow Rishta follows queer Indian couples and individuals on their search for both love and acceptance within their communities. Trinetra seeks a partner who doesn’t fetishize her trans identity; Ayushmaan, a drag queen, finally decides to open himself up to the idea of love; lesbian couple Sanam and Aneez battle societal mores as the hunt for an apartment to call their own; and trans woman Daniella and her fiance Joel plan their wedding and deal with all of the ups and downs of joining their lives. There are two more stories featured in the six-part series — that of Sadam, and gay couple Soham and Suresh — but they aren’t featured heavily in the first two episodes.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? With a singular focus on a specific identity’s quest for love, the show follows a similar format to Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum, which traded the LGBTQ community for those with autism. Both series simply follow their subject’s journeys and allow the stories to unfold organically with seemingly minimal producer input, allowing them to feel authentic and genuine.

Our Take: LGBTQ+ communities around the world have faced setbacks in their rights — the United States veers closer to repealing same-sex marriage while India outright ruled against it. But India’s culture has always been more conservative, which is what makes a show like Rainbow Rishta even more vital because it loudly announces the community as people who want and deserve an equal shot at everything in life — including marriage.

The series, of course, hinges on the strength of its cast and the stories it wants to tell; in that, it soars. The varied mix of personalities, experiences, plights, and desires shows a full spectrum of life. Aneez and Sanam’s struggles to find a landlord that will accept them as a lesbian couple renting from them shows how deep the prejudice runs, that it trumps money and business. Daniella’s anger at Joel after his appendectomy cost her money she was saving for their wedding is a realistic portrayal of the trials and tribulations of a relationship. And Trinetra’s confidence while dating isn’t mindblowing because she’s trans; it’s mindblowing because present-day dating is a ruthless affair for anyone. It sounds corny to praise variety in a docuseries like this, but it’s crucial to ensuring that the participants are seen as people and not objects. Moreover, the series doesn’t sensationalize anyone’s stories, but rather approaches them with realism.

What I wanted more of — and which very well may unravel throughout the remainder of the series — are stories about their family’s reactions, especially if it ended in acceptance like Daniella and Joel’s. Even if that’s cliche, given the current climate, those stories are crucial for people to see as an example for love and acceptance.

Shows like Rainbow Rishta have the power to shift societal values and expectations simply by showing LGBTQ+ people living happily and freely as their authentic selves. I hope many people, especially Indians and other South Asians with a conservative mindset, take time to seek out their stories to realize that at the end of the day, all any of us want is to be loved.

Sex and Skin: Though this episode is about love in all of its forms, the first episode doesn’t go deep into sexual acts and the series doesn’t hint at that for future episodes.

Parting Shot: Ayushmaan shows off his alter ego, drag queen Miss Lush Monsoon.

Sleeper Star: It’s easy to pick Trinetra, who people may recognize from her starring turn on the second season of Made in Heaven and has an incredible screen presence, but I was most endeared to Ayushmaan who has never dated and plays the role of dutiful son and has kept his identity a secret from his parents in the hopes of receiving their unconditional love.

Most Pilot-y Line: “We could lie about being a couple and get a house easily, but we too deserve to live like a normal couple,” Aneez says, cementing the thesis of the series: these people, and all other LGBTQ+ people, just want to live their lives playing by the same rules as everyone else.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Rainbow Rishta is a beautiful series about the power of love and acceptance, no matter who you are.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.