GayBombay Global Impact Award 2025 – Sridhar Rangayan
This year, the GayBombay Awards 2025 proudly honours Sridhar Rangayan (He/Him) with the Global Impact Award, recognising a lifetime of tireless work in queer cinema, storytelling, and activism.
Who is Sridhar Rangayan?
- Born on 2 April 1962 in Mandya, Karnataka.
- He studied at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, then pursued postgraduate studies in Visual Communication at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay.
- Before turning fully to filmmaking, he worked in mass media roles and other creative capacities — from designing textiles to collaborating on television series and mentoring under established filmmakers.
Filmmaking & Major Works
Sridhar Rangayan’s films are landmark contributions to queer representation in India. They often:
- Tackle taboo subjects, such as transgender lives, HIV/AIDS, and the societal pressures faced by queer people.
- Push for visibility and legal reform. For example, Breaking Free (2015) explores the impact of Section 377 (the colonial-era law criminalising same-sex relations) and won the National Award for Best Editing (Non-Fiction) in 2016, along with international human rights honours.
- Portray intimate, human stories: Evening Shadows (2018) deals with a son coming out in a small town and how his mother comes to terms with this truth. It was widely recognised, shown in many countries, and acclaimed for its sensitivity.
- Earlier works like The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina) (2003) remain groundbreaking: this film was banned in India by the Censor Board for its homosexual content but was screened across many festivals worldwide.
Some more notable films/documentaries:
| Title | Theme / Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| 68 Pages (2007) | Stigma and discrimination faced by marginalised HIV+ people from various communities. |
| Purple Skies(2014) | Voices of lesbians, bisexual and trans men in India – first such documentary on national TV (Doordarshan). |
| Yours Emotionally | Explores love across cultures, identity, and belonging between Indian and British-Asian queer people. |
Other Roles & Contributions
- Festival Director & Visionary: Founder of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, South Asia’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival. Under his direction, it has been instrumental in nurturing emerging queer filmmakers and bringing queer narratives into mainstream public conversation.
- Activism & Advocacy: Co-founded The Humsafar Trust, one of India’s earliest and most important LGBTQ+ NGOs. Also involved in Bombay Dost, one of India’s first gay magazines.
- Jury & International Recognition: Rangayan has served on juries for prestigious festivals (including the Teddy Awards at Berlinale, Outfest, Movies That Matter) and has been a speaker at forums and global LGBT seminars.
Themes & Vision
What sets Sridhar’s work apart is not just what he tells, but how:
- He blends storytelling, vulnerability, and social critique in a way that reaches both queer and non-queer audiences.
- His stories aren’t limited to “coming out” narratives; they expand into family, identity, memory, community, conflict, and hope.
- He pushes for systemic and legal change, not just social empathy — using film as a tool of both art and advocacy.
Why the Global Impact Award is Fitting
Given all of the above, it’s clear why Sridhar Rangayan is being honoured with a Global Impact award:
- Through his films, he has shifted public discourse, challenged legal inequalities, and changed perceptions of queer lives in India and elsewhere.
- He has enabled new voices — especially younger queer filmmakers — to emerge, to tell stories that might otherwise not have been seen.
- His influence is both national and international: local roots, global reach.
We are deeply honoured to present Sridhar Rangayan with the Gay Bombay Global Impact Award 2025 — a celebration of a man whose courage, craft, and creativity have not only changed film, but helped change lives.
Gay Bombay 