Aligarh Writer Apurva Asrani Reveals he And His Gay Partner Pretended to be Cousins For 13 Years to Rent a Home in Mumbai

Apurva Asrani, known for writing and editing Aligarh, buys new home in Mumbai with his partner Siddhant. He reveals that they had to pretend to be cousins for 13 years to live in a rented apartment.

Writer Apurva Asrani, known for writing and editing Manoj Bajpayee‘s Aligarh, came out as a homosexual on Twitter on Friday. The popular writer posted a picture of himself posing with his partner named Siddhant and wrote a beautiful note alongside. He revealed how after pretending to be cousins for 13 long years, they have finally bought their own home in the city. Apurva said he and his partner hid their identity for many years because they were asked to not let their neighbours know that they were a gay couple.

Apurva talked about normalising an LGBTQ family in India. Posting the picture of their apartment’s nameplate that read ‘Apurva and Siddhant’, the writer wrote, “For 13 years we pretended to be cousins so we could rent a home together. We were told ‘keep curtains drawn so neighbours don’t know ‘what’ you are’. We recently bought our own home. Now we voluntarily tell neighbors we are partners Two hearts. It’s time LGBTQ families are normalised too.” (sic)

For 13 years we pretended to be cousins so we could rent a home together. We were told ‘keep curtains drawn so neighbors don’t know ‘what’ you are’. We recently bought our own home. Now we voluntarily tell neighbors we are partners 💕. It’s time LGBTQ families are normalised too. pic.twitter.com/kZ9t9Wnc7i

— Apurva (@Apurvasrani) May 29, 2020

Apurva is a national award-winning editor who was appreciated for editing a bilingual film called Snip!. He also claimed to have written Simran (2017), directed by Hansal Mehta and starring Kangana Ranaut when the actor said she changed the entire script of the film and also got the credit of being the additional script and dialogue writer. Apurva is also known for editing Satya (1998) and Shahid (2013). He also edited Zoya Akhtar’s web-series Made in Heaven (2019).

Apurva has been one of the most significant voices for the LGBTQ community in the film industry. His approach towards bettering the world and making it more inclusive also reflects in his writing, especially in Aligarh which is based on the life of a professor who’s sacked from his job on the basis of morality after it’s revealed that he’s a homosexual.