Bollywood has struggled in its representation of social issues and conditions, so when I heard about Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui I was skeptic of how they were going to represent trans people. The problem with Bollywood has always been that of representation, in a country where movies like Super 30 and Kabir Singh are released together and people idealise the toxic and harmful Kabir Singh rather than the hardworking Anand Kumar shows the mentality of the mainstream audience, and this factor affects the representation. It isn’t an excuse, but it is the reality of how the situation seems to be.
While Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, at its core has to be considered as a failed attempt in the representation of barriers faced by trans people, it is still a start. Literature and Cinema are supposed to be the reflection of society, they reflect and show what is out there in the world, while Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui shows the misogynistic and toxic behaviour that trans people have to go through, at least it provides a start in addressing those issues, even if it is through a mixed bag.
The movie shows the uncertainty in Manvi’s brain when getting into dating because she is trans, how she struggles to explain her identity as a woman who is trans. All these things provide the audience with a slight frame work about the struggles of trans people.
All in all, the movie, according to me is a mixed bag in its representation, while it fails at many major moments, especially the shower scene and the reactions of Manu, it still has to be considered as a start to the representation of trans people, with the hope of the representation only getting better and flawless.