A reflection on queer filmmaking, festival curation, and representation at WIFF Mumbai 2025 — read this interview of Sridhar Rangayan by Vinta Nanda, exploring cinema’s role in hope, freedom, and amplifying LGBTQ+ voices across India and beyond.

At the Waterfront Indie Film Festival (WIFF) Mumbai 2025, the WIFF SELECT section spotlighted the power of independent queer storytelling through a remarkable package curated by filmmaker and LGBTQIA+ rights advocate Sridhar Rangayan. This feature contextualises the showcase within WIFF’s mission to nurture diverse voices while celebrating the legacy of KASHISH Pride Film Festival — South Asia’s largest LGBTQIA+ film festival. As Rangayan speaks to Vinta Nanda about the evolution of queer cinema, its urgent social relevance, and his two-decade journey with Saagar Gupta in shaping authentic LGBTQ+ narratives, the conversation becomes a compelling insight into how cinema can challenge prejudice and document cultural history. This interview serves as a vital record of queer creative resistance and celebration at WIFF Mumbai 2025.

On Oct 4 2025, during the Waterfront Indie Film Festival (WIFF) Mumbai, in the section WIFF SELECT, Sridhar Rangayan curated Queer Cinema. He is also a filmmaker and the founder and Festival Director of KASHISH Pride Film Festival, South Asia’s biggest LGBTQIA+ film festival. 

The line-up was an inspiring set of award-winning films that illuminate the many shades of queer life across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. These heartfelt stories celebrate strength, joy, and hope—reminding us that happy endings are possible. Curated with pride, the package came from the KASHISH Pride Film Festival.

Sridhar Rangayan is a filmmaker, writer, and activist whose films address social issues with warmth, compassion, and humour. His award-winning works have screened at 350+ festivals, winning 35+ international awards, including a National Award for Breaking Free.

Recently, I spoke to him about his work with his partner Saagar Gupta (he was also programming director of WIFF Mumbai 2025). Below are excerpts from the conversation.

Why do you believe queer cinema holds relevance and importance in today’s social and cultural landscape?

In the present context of socio-political upheavals across the world, with the LGBTQ+ community being targeted, and many rights being reversed, it becomes imperative to include queer films in every film festival – independent or mainstream. Queer films should become part of mainstream conversations to amplify the often hidden & ignored narratives that they try to bring forth.
Over the past few years, especially after the reading down of Sec 377 thereby decriminalizing homosexuality, more and more Indian filmmakers are making films around LGBTQ narratives. Queer films have also evolved beyond stories of angst and acceptance to include intersectional stories around faith, caste, special abilities and sexuality; as well as urban-rural divide, and in several regional languages.

How would you describe your ongoing commitment to amplifying queer narratives through cinema?

Saagar Gupta and I are among the very few filmmakers who have been making LGBTQ+ themed films for the past 23 years, we have been trying to push the boundaries for a long time. We started making LGBTQ+ films when there was complete invisibility. Right from the early 2000s when there were just one or two LGBTQ films, to a time now when there are hundreds of Indian LGBTQ+ films made both by LGBTQ filmmakers and non-LGBTQ filmmakers; through our films we attempt to amplify gay, lesbian & transgender people’s narratives, in the most authentic manner.

Our films have been sometimes conversation starters about identities, sometimes documentation of people and events that laid the foundation for the movement, and sometimes about families and acceptance; but each one of them have been a true voice of the community with LGBTQ+ members as part of the cast & crew – in front of the camera and behind the camera as well. Our films The Pink Mirror, Yours Emotionally!, Purple Skies, Breaking Free, Evening Shadows, Raja Bro and Kuch Sapney Apne have collectively screened at more than 350 film festivals and won almost 50 awards including a National Film Award for Best Editing.

Our effort has always been to advocate as well as entertain audiences with our films, which we call ‘Advotainment’.

Apart from writing, directing and producing our own films, we wanted to support larger conversations, and hence co-founded KASHISH Pride Film Festival in 2010 (earlier known as KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival till 2024).

Over the past 16 years of the festival, we have screened thousands of LGBTQ+ films from across the world to diverse audiences – from LGBTQ+ community members who celebrate their own lives on the big screen; to friends, families and colleagues who want to form a deeper understanding of the community; to students and corporate house employees as an eye-opener to the realities of the community. 

The festival not only showcases LGBTQ+ films at its annual festival and year-round screening programs; but also supports development of new films through a grant; as well as support distribution of Indian LGBTQ+ films through Theatrical and OTT releases.

What was the process you followed while curating the queer cinema package for WIFF 2025? Could you tell us about the films you curated and which among them resonated most deeply with you?

KASHISH Pride Film Festival screens close to 150-180 films from 45-50 countries every year. So it is always a very challenging task to pick a few films to screen in our Best of KASHISH series. However our efforts have always been to promote greater visibility for the Indian LGBTQ+ films, and hence we try to program a bunch of short films at various events in collaboration with several organizations.

At WIFF 2025, we wanted to put together a ‘Queer Films’ curated program that is truly independent in nature, in sync with the theme of the festival, but also a program that shows the diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences. Whether it is the Assamese folktale depicted as an animated film in ‘I Am Tejimola’, a boy who goes in search of his brother but finds them transformed as a woman in ‘Jalsa’, a super-natural kind of film like ‘The Witch of Vihar Lake’, a simple-yet-complicated love story between two men – one seeing & closeted and the other blind and out - in ‘Because’, or the beautiful feature film ‘A Life Inside Me’ about a father and daughter giving birth to something new.

Each one of these films, showcasing different aspects of the rainbow spectrum, highlighted stories of conflict, struggles and joy, without being didactic or preachy. Each one of them is a cinematic gem, apart from being a showcase of LGBTQ+ stories.

While it is very difficult to pick one film out of all these beautiful films, the film that resonated with me is the feature film ‘A Life Inside Me’, directed by Jackie R Bala. Shot in small towns in Bihar, and presenting both an outer and inner landscape of beauty and tranquillity it shows the transformational power of hope. With tender performances by Inayat Kazi as the father and Sonalli Sharmisstha as the daughter, and with a great supporting cast led by Rajendra Gupta, the film tugs at our heartstrings and awakens our mind – a perfect combination for any good cinema.