The organizers of 'Kashish 2012', India's only LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) festival, don't seem to be just gay, but in addition happy and gay (no pun intended). The explanation? Well, the said festival that started from May 23-27 was received with none protest by anyone to this point.
The organizers claim that despite the fact that protests do happen on the film festival site, they'd reserve seats for the protestors in order that they 'understand' what queer is all about. Pallav Patankar (some of the festival directors) said that this year, even supposing they have got acquired permissions even from the Maharashtra Government's State Secretariat and the local police, they have got not encountered any major homophobia. He also added that many government agencies were concerned with the film festival. And after they understand the meaning of 'queer', they were more than pleased to simply accept the similar. While the theme of 'Kashish 2012' is 'For Everyone', this year also marks the third edition of the similar. This year will see the screening of 125 films, all of which was programmed in a way where queer characters and queer stories are a part of a bigger narrative, which the organizers hope appeals to a large cross part of audience.
Sridhar Rangayan (one of the crucial festival directors) said that both the hole film Beginners and the closing film Weekend reflected the theme best. And the explanation he stated was that they were necessarily queer films because they're love stories which might be human. While Beginners is as much about Ewan McGregor and his relationship along with his girlfriend because it is set Christopher Plummer and his gay lover, Weekend is ready two people meeting over a weekend and falling in love. Rangayan also added that these films bridge the divide between queer and mainstream films, rather blur them. The organizers said that several celebrities were expected not to just participate, but attend the festival besides.
Meanwhile, Sridhar opined the organizers would really like to have a queer film category throughout the mainstream film festival or have a queer award in a mainstream film festival just like the 'Teddy Awards' on the Berlin International Film Festival.
