Donald has appeared to throw his weight behind the first major release featuring a gay love story in Indian cinema, in an unexpected foray into Bollywood from the US president.
Following an evening when Mr was taken to task for his criticism of the Oscars – including the awarding of best picture to South Korean film Parasite – the president returned to the subject of the silver screen in an apparant show of support for an LGBT-focussed Bollywood film.
In an endorsement which seemingly came out of the blue, Mr appeared to show his approval of Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan – which tells the story of a gay couple’s attempts to win over the approval of their elders – on Twitter on Friday.
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His apparent endorsement came in response to an article on British LGBT+ website Pink News that had been shared by the prominent British rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Mr Tatchell tweeted the article along with its headline, which stated the movie hoped to “win over older people, following the decriminalisation of homosexuality” in the country. Mr retweeted his post, adding: “Great!”
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Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016
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Donald and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with after the election
LeaveEUOffical/Twitter
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Trump styles his ‘You’re fired!’ pose in his Tower office in June 2012. At the time he was known as a reality TV star on The Apprentice
Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP
2/29
He was also well known as the patron of the Miss Universe competition
Getty
3/29
Early signs of’s ambition for the presidency can be found everywhere. Not least in his 2011 book ‘Time to get tough: Making America #1 again’
Getty
4/29
Trump with Piers Morgan in November 2010. Piers Morgan has long held that he and are good friends
Getty
5/29
Trump appeared on Fox & Friends, his favourite show, in August 2011
Getty
6/29
Trump considered running in the 2012 election, where he would have faced Barack Obama. He is speaking here at an event for a Republican women’s group
Getty
7/29
Trump was subject to a Comedy Central roast in 2011. He is pictured here being roasted by rapper Snoop Dogg
Getty
8/29
Given that this store is in the lobby of Tower, it can be said that sells merchandise of himself out of his own home
Getty
9/29
Trump held meetings with prominent Republicans when considering his 2012 bid. He is pictured here with Alaska governor Sarah Palin
Getty
10/29
He didn’t end up running in 2012 afterall, instead endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney
AFP/Getty
11/29
Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen proved controversial in 2012 when he began lobbying the Scottish government against wind power in order that they wouldn’t install turbines off the shore by his new course
Getty
12/29
He even gave eence to a Scottish parliamentary committee discouraging wind energy
AFP/Getty
13/29
He still found time for a round of course
AFP/Getty
14/29
On 16 June 2015, announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election as a Republican
Getty
15/29
His campaign was divisive, courting controversy wherever he went. Ultimately he was declared the Republican candidate in June 2016
Getty
16/29
Trump took part in the TV debate against opponent Hillary Clinton on 9 October
Getty
17/29
Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016
AFP/Getty
18/29
Hillary Clinton conceded defeat at 2:50am on 9 November and president-elect swiftly delivered his victory speech to a crowd of supporters
Getty
19/29
News coverage around the world focused on the huge political upset that’s victory spelled
AFP/Getty
20/29
Trump met with president Obama to discusss transition planning on 10 November.
AFP/Getty
21/29
Donald and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with after the election
LeaveEUOffical/Twitter
22/29
The inauguration of Donald took place on 20 January 2017.’s press secretary Sean Spicer boasted that the crowd was the ‘largest ever’ to witness an inauguration, a claim that was proved not to be true
Getty
23/29
In his first 100 days as leader, signed 24 executve orders, the most of any president
AFP/Getty
24/29
One of’s most memorable election pledges was to build a wall between the US and Mexico. He is standing here in front of a prototype for a section of the wall
Getty
25/29
Trump’s meetings with other world leaders have proed no short supply of photo opportunities
Getty
26/29
Trump was welcomed to the UK by the Queen and a state banquet was held at Buckingham Palace in his honour
Reuters
27/29
Not everyone welcomed the president. Mass protests were held in London throughout his visits in both 2018 and 2019
EPA
28/29
One of the most significant meetings has held with another leader was with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. In June 2019, became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea
Getty
29/29
2020 will see president fight for a second term in office, who knows what the next decade will bring?
Getty
It is unclear how Mr came across the post by Mr Tatchell – who came to the fore for his LGBT+ rights activism in the 1970s and is not among the 47 accounts followed by the president.
“I hope this is the beginning of President’s genuine embrace of LGBT+ rights and not just a PR stunt,” Mr Tatchell, who has previously been critical of Mr, said shortly after the retweet.
The president has repeatedly touted himself as an ally of the LGBT+ community, despite his administration curtailing the rights of trans people – including banning them from military service – and urging the Supreme Court to ensure gay employees are not protected under the Civil Rights Act.
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It comes just days before Mr is set to visit India to meet the nation’s prime minister Narendra Modi in the northern city of Ahmedabad. But it is unclear how the conservative Mr Modi will receive an apparent endorsement of progressive ideas from the US leader.
Gay sex was made legal by India’s Supreme Court in 2018 after judges cast off colonial-era legislation.
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At the time, Mr Modi’s right-wing BJP government expressed no unambiguous opinion on the modernising step in India’s civil rights despite the matter taking centre stage in the national conversation.
An LGBT-focussed mainstream Bollywood release breaks with tradition in a style of cinema that has more frequently used the community as a punchline.
Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan – which translates as Extra Careful of Marriage – follows a gay couple as they struggle to win over one set of parents who are seeking an arranged hetrosexual wedding for their son.
The release marks part of a broader trend in the genre to push boundaries and represent a more modern India in films that have often historically focussed around the interplay between romantic love and tradition.
