Sridhar Rangayan, born April 2, 1962, to M. R. Thirunarayan and Yadu Narayan, is an Indian filmmaker who has made films with a special focus on queer subjects. His queer films, The Pink Mirror and Yours Emotionally have been considered groundbreaking because of their realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the largely closeted Indian gay community. His film The Pink Mirror remains banned in India by the Indian Censor Board because of its homosexual content.
Rangayan was born in Mandya, Karnataka. As a gay activist, he has been one of the front-rank leaders in the LGBT movement in India and has contributed immensely to the growth of awareness about sexual minorities in India.
He is a Founder Member and Trustee of The Humsafar Trust, the first gay NGO in India, along with Ashok Row Kavi. He served on its board till January 2013. He also designed and edited India's first gay magazine Bombay Dost between 1999–2003.
In 2006, he was awarded the South Asian Achievers Award for his contribution to global mainstream media by Triangle Media Group (TMG), UK.
In 2010, he has served on the Jury for the Teddy Awards at the 60th Berlinale (Berlin, Germany), the Jury for Matter of Act awards at the Movies That Matter film festival (The Hague, Netherlands), and also on the Jury for Outfest, Iris Prize, Mardi Gras, and Image+Nation.
He is the founder and Festival Director of Kashish Mumbai Queer Film Festival which is held in Mumbai, India every year for the past 11 years, the first ever queer film festival to be held at a mainstream theater - PVR Cinemas (2010), Cinemax (2011-2013) and Liberty Cinema (2014-2019)
He was elected as Regional Director (Region 19) of Interpride which is a network of more than 160 Gay Pride organizations from more than 35 countries in 162 cities, dedicated to LGBT Pride parades and other events.
He is also the Festival Director of Flashpoint Human Rights Film Festival which was held in Mumbai, India from 8–10 December 2010 at Alliance française de Bombay and screened 8 documentary films on human rights issues along with panel discussions on several topics like human trafficking and the law, violence against women and religious intolerance.
Sridhar Rangayan is a graduate of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka and has a Post-graduate in Design from Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, specializing in Visual Communication. Sridhar Rangayan worked with the National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped as Mass Media Officer and then for a while as a textile designer for an export firm, designing tapestries and carpets.
In 1994 he attended a short course in film appreciation at the FTII, Pune. Thereafter he apprenticed with Indian directors like Sai Paranjpye on the film Papeeha and TV serial Hum Panchi Ek Chal Ke and Dev Benegal on his feature English, August. He wrote the screenplay and dialogues for Kalpana Lajmi's serial The Awakening (Doordarshan) and was the Associate Director for the serial Dawn (Star Plus). Both these were produced by Bhupen Hazarika, the Assamese music director, and singer.
From 1999 to 2002, Rangayan scripted and directed several television series like Rishtey and Gubbare for (Zee TV), Kagaar for (Sahara TV) Krishna Arjun, and Kahani Jurrm Ki for (Star Plus). His serial Pyar Ki Kashti Mein for Star One (2004) was the first Indian serial to be entirely shot on a cruise liner (SuperStar Virgo) and also in Singapore and Malaysia.
In 2001 he founded his production company Solaris Pictures along with his partner Saagar Gupta, a writer and art director. The company is perhaps the only production company in India to specialize in the production of gay-themed films. For his company, Rangayan scripted produced, and directed 'India's first film on drag queens' Gulabi Aaina which came 9 years after India's first gay film, Riyad Vinci Wadia's Bomgay. Gulabi Aaina has screened at more than 70 international film festivals and won several awards. This film, which is a sensitive portrayal of the marginalized community of Indian transsexuals, has become part of libraries and academic coursework in US universities.
His first feature Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (The Sensational Six) is produced by the Children's Film Society of India CFSI. It is a children's film. It won the Bronze Remi Award at WorldFest, Houston, and has been screened at several children's film festivals. The film is written by playwright and screenwriter Vijay Tendulkar based on a story by writer and MP Shakuntala Paranjpye.
Rangayan's next film Yours Emotionally, a co-production with a UK production company Wise Thoughts portrayed the angst of a gay British Asian falling in love with a bisexual Indian man in a small town. The film has been screened at several international film festivals including Tasveer – Seattle South Asian Film Festival and Prague Bollywood Film Festival.
His next film 68 Pages about the stigma and discrimination faced by HIV-positive people has been funded by DFID, UK, and co-produced by his company Solaris Pictures along with The Humsafar Trust. This film which premiered at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in December 2007 is about an HIV/AIDS counselor and how she instills hope and a will to live, among five HIV-positive people from marginalized communities. A transsexual bar dancer, a gay couple, a sex worker, and a drug user from the five narratives in this film. HIVOS has granted a fund to support the screening of the film throughout India as part of its advocacy initiative. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has made the film mandatory for all counselor training programs throughout India as part of their NACP III program.
His next two documentaries on LGBT issues have been groundbreaking - 'Purple Skies - Voices of Indian lesbian, bisexual & transmen', produced by PSBT Public Service Broadcasting Trust is the first film on lesbians to be telecast on Doordarshan; and 'Breaking Free', a film about Sec 377 and Indian LGBT community, produced by Solaris Pictures won the National Award for Best Editing (non-feature) at the 63rd National Film Awards 2016 for editors Pravin Angre and Sridhar Rangayan.
The film also won the Barbara Gittings International Human Rights Award at qFLIX Philadelphia film festival, USA.
He has directed and produced the feature film Evening Shadows which had its world premiere at Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney in February 2018. Evening Shadows is a story about a gay son coming out to his mother in a small town in South India and how his family reacts to it. The film has won 7 awards and has screened at more than 45 international film festivals. The film stars Mona Ambegaonkar, Ananth Mahadevan, and newcomers Devansh Doshi and Arpit Chaudhary.
He was named to the jury for the Teddy Award for LGBT films at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). He has also served on the jury of prestigious film festivals Mardi Gras Film Festival, Movies That Matter Festival, The Netherlands, Iris Prize, UK, Image+Nation LGBT film festival, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Outfest, USA.
During the 2016 Montreal pride parade, Rangayan led the parade along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as one of the Grand Marshals.
Apart from filmmaking, Rangayan is also actively involved with human rights issues and the disability sector. He has made a short film on cancer intervention and rehabilitation as well as several films on hearing impairment.
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