International queer film festival kick-starts in Mumbai

Last evening, one of South Asia's biggest LGBTQ film festivals, KASHISH’s opening ceremony was held at the iconic Liberty Cinema in Mumbai. The five-day long film festival will go on till May 27 and will see a host of movies and panel discussions on topics pertaining to the community.

Corporate bigwigs Nadir Godrej and Radhika Piramal were the guests of honour at the festival’s opening. Celebs including

Dolly Thakore

, the festival’s director Sridhar Rangayan, actors

Jayati Bhatia

, Sid Makkar, author Devdutt Pattanaik, stand-up comedian Navin Noronha were present at the event. The energetic night, which was hosted by RJs Rohini Ramanathan and Mantra, saw dance performances by

Akhilesh Chaturvedi

who did a Shiv Tandav and a group act by a troupe named ‘Color Positive’ who danced to 'Bezubaan' and 'Taal Se Taal Mila'. Navin tickled the audience’s funny bone by narrating his experiences while coming out.

While the theme for this year is ‘Together with Pride’, the country of focus this year is India. The festival, which is in its ninth edition will see over 140 movies from 45 countries at the five-day long event, of which 47 will compete at the festival. Started in the year 2010, the screenings will be held at two venues — Liberty Cinema and Metro Inox.