About this episode

Karan and Roshan share their journey of love and filmmaking, inspired by their own experiences as gay men from South Asian communities.

Karan and Roshan’s real-life romance inspired their film A Nice Indian Boy, and the success of the Hollywood/Bollywood romcom has healed many family rifts on the way. Karan Soni is an Indian actor famous for playing supporting roles in films like Deadpool & Wolverine. He had moved to the US for college before becoming an actor, but, despite coming out in his teens, felt he had to keep his sexuality a secret to make it in Hollywood. Roshan Sethi is a Canadian oncologist and scriptwriter from an Indian family, who didn't come out till the age of 30. But when the pair met through an online dating app, things began to change. They ended up making a Hollywood/Bollywood-inspired romcom that closely resembled their own story – about a gay Indian-American doctor finding love. Karan is in the lead role, alongside musical theatre star Jonathan Groff, and Roshan is directing. Making this film, and sharing it with their families, has helped to address some of the issues both Karan and Roshan experienced as gay men from South Asian communities. This story was first on BBC World Service radio last year - when the Lives Less Ordinary team decided to create the Love Stories season, we knew…

More episodes of Lives Less Ordinary

• Love Stories: Told by you · September 6, 2026 · 50 min
• Love Stories: The matchmaker · August 30, 2026 · 39 min
• Love Stories: My two husbands · August 16, 2026 · 46 min
• Love Stories: Do you remember me? · August 9, 2026 · 42 min
• Love Stories: Finding you in a warzone · August 2, 2026 · 45 min
• Introducing: Love Stories · July 30, 2026 · 2 min

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