Sridhar Rangayan hopes that the growing number of gay films being made in Mumbai is not just another passing trend. “I hope filmmakers make films on homosexuality with a heart. We want our true feelings to be mirrored on screen, and not become fodder for sensationalism and titillation,” says the filmmaker and festival director of Kashish, the country’s biggest gay film festival, which recently wound up in Mumbai.
If the packed theatres seen at Kashish are anything to go by, Rangayan has a lot to be optimistic about. A month earlier in March, the Queer Nazaria festival held received a similar response. “We’re very happy that Kashish turned out to be India’s biggest queer film festival because we were looking to address queer issues not only for queer audiences but for the mainstream community as well,” Rangayan adds.
Shrenik Jain, a filmmaker says more filmmakers like him need to tell similar stories.