Saving Chintu

How difficult it is in this day and age for a gay couple to have full access to adoption. It is still shocking that in the 21st century there are so many taboos around the topics of homosexuality and 'coming out' is still looked down. Few days back i had plugged it my review for Donald Richie's Dead Youth (1967) and Badnam Basti (1971), a forgotten gem regarded as the first Indian film to explore queer love. Here we a deep and relevant short film that interweaves two narratives exploring everything about homophobia and the hardship of same-sex adoption and the stigma surrounding HIV. This is not done with pseudo-intellectual dialogues but takes on simplicity and ease to deliver the message without screaming tragedy. I'm glad it didn't waste time on the love triangle when Sam had to take the help of his friend Mira or the fake marriage situation. Everything is simplified which works in favour of the film and sometimes it feels as a disadvantage especially the character arc development, maybe it needed more time but this is really not a major flaw. I'm sure in the finale with the tie scene and the photo reveal it will make you overlook the film's earlier flaws.