Kashish 2025 opens with celebration of queer voices, tributes, and powerful stories!

The 16th edition of the Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, opened on a powerful and emotional note, celebrating groundbreaking queer stories and honoring artists!

The opening night ceremony was graced by several illustrious film industry professionals including Guneet Monga, Vikramaditya Motwane, Abhishek Chaubey, Shruti Seth, Onir, Sujata Mehta, Sudhanshu Saria, and Siddharth Menon, who joined festival director Sridhar Rangayan in spotlighting emerging voices and cinematic excellence in queer storytelling. The evening was also attended by the Kashish Advisory board members filmmaker and editor Arunaraje Patil, Whistling Woods president Meghna Ghai Puri, actress Renuka Shahane, Producer and academician Viveck Vaswani.

Actor Akash Menon, honored with the Rainbow Voices Award for his performance in We Are Faheem and Karun directed by Onir, shared: “I’m deeply grateful and honored to receive the Kashish Rainbow Voices Award. We Are Faheem & Karun was more than just a debut — it was a journey into truth, identity, and love. To be recognized by South Asia’s biggest LGBTQ+ film festival, and to follow in the footsteps of incredible artists, is truly humbling. I’m especially grateful to my director, Onir, who was a guiding light during filming and continues to be one inlife. This recognition affirms the power of storytelling to spark empathy and change,” said Akash Menon.

Actor Tawseef Mir, who also received the award, added, “This honor means the world to me. We Are Faheem and Karun isn’t just my debut,  it’s a piece of my heart, rooted in the soil I come from. To be recognized for a story so close to home is truly overwhelming. I’m deeply thankful to Onir sir, the team, and everyone who believed in a boy from Srinagar with a dream,”

The opening night also paid tribute to veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, whose legacy in Indian cinema continues to inspire generations. Acclaimed actors Rajeshwari Sachdev and Rajit Kapur took the stage to share memories and celebrate their iconic film Sooraj Ka Saatvan Ghoda, directed by Benegal.

Celebrated trans activist and artist A Revathi was honored with the Rainbow Warrior Award, which recognizes brilliant work by LGBTQ+ artists and activists giving a voice to the community in the mainstream space. The felicitation was done by Ashok Row Kavi, the noted gay activist who was the first recipient of this award. In an emotional speech, Revathi said, “When my biographical documentary Naam Revathi was selected and announced as a happy surprise at this film event, the senior social activists who guided us, especially Ashok Row Kavi were honored with the Kashish Rainbow Award in 2014. I consider it an honor to have been a voice for sexual minorities, especially as a writer, theatre practitioner, filmmaker, and artist, carrying the tools of struggle for over thirty years. I am especially grateful for this award given to me by my own LGBTQ community, and I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the organizers of the film festival. This recognition inspires me to continue and do even more.”

Dr. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, who made a huge mark with her acting chops in Made in Heaven 2, made her first appearance at the festival since moving to Mumbai and was also honored with an award. “I’m so deeply moved and honoured to be felicitated by Kashish- a space that has empowered and celebrated queer creatives for 15 years. This is my first time at the festival since my move to Mumbai, and to be held by your own community this way, there is nothing more beautiful than that. I’m committed to using my voice to tell more and more queer stories in whatever capacity I can, with full force. To many more!”, Trinetra said.

The very prestigious Kashish QDrishti Film Grant was announced by the three illustrious jury members Abhishek Chaubey, Guneet Monga Kapoor and Vikramaditya Motwane. Shubam Negi’s script ‘Makeup Room’ was picked as the winner of the grant. The two runners up were Varsha Panicker for her script ‘Operation: Gulzaar’ and Rayyan Monkey for their script ‘Us Girls.’ 

The evening also witnessed an amazing Bharatnatyam performance by the Nalanda Kendra and ended with Rani KoHenur / Sushant Divgikar who brought the house down with their song performance.

With 152 films from more than 48 countries, panel discussions, and live performances ahead, Kashish 2025, promises a week of cinematic brilliance, inclusivity, and advocacy!

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