Sridhar Rangayan

Infobox Person
name = Sridhar Rangayan


image_size = 150px
caption =
birth_date = April 2, 1962
birth_place = Bangalore India
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Film Director, Scriptwriter, Film Producer
spouse =
parents = M.R.Thirunarayanan, Yadu Narayan
children =

Sridhar Rangayan (also spelt Sridhar Rangaihn or Sridhar Rangayyan) (born 2 April, 1962 in Bangalore, Southern India) is an Indian filmmaker who has made films with 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 still remains banned in India by the Indian Censor Board because of its homosexual content. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/3689509.stm BBC]

He is also a human rights activist fighting for rights of sexual minorities. He is one of the co-founders of The Humsafar Trust, the first gay NGO in India, along with Ashok Row Kavi.

In 2006, he was awarded the South Asian Achievers Award for his contribution to global mainstream media by Triangle Media Group (TMG), UK.

Profile

Sridhar Rangayan is a Graduate in Engineering (KREC) and Post-graduate in Design from IDC,IIT, Bombay with specialization 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 eminent 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 Dr.Bhupen Hazarika, the legendary 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) and 'Krisshna Arjun', '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 cuiseliner (Superstar Virgo) and also in Singapore & 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 production of gay themed films. For his company, Rangayan scripted, produced and directed ' India's first film on drag queens' - 'Gulabi Aaina'The Pink Mirror which came 9 years after India's first gay film - Riyad Wadia's bomGay. The Pink Mirror 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 course work in US Universities.

His first feature 'Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (The Sensational Six), produced by the Children Film Society of India CFSI is a children film that combines breezy fun-filled adventure with social values. It won the Bronze Remi Award at WorldFest, Houston and has been screened at several children film festivals. The film is written by noted playwright and scriptwriter Vijay Tendulkar based on a story by noted writer and MP Shakuntala Paranjpye.

Rangayan's next film Yours Emotionally, a co-production with an 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 is considered to be a bold exploration of the Indian gay melieu with its stark and naked portrayal of homoerotic desires. Termed as an 'intoxicating queer journey through India', the film also raises questions about racism and identity. The dilm has screened at several internationa film festivals including Tasveer - Seattle South Asian Film Festival and Prague Bollywood Film Festival.

His recent film '68 Pages' about stigma and discrimination faced by HIV+ 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 a HIV/AIDS counselor and how she instils hope and a will to live, among 5 HIV postive people from marginalized communities. A transsexual bar dancer, a gay couple, a sex worker and a drug user form the five narratives in this film. HIVOS has granted a fund to support screening of the film throughout India as part of its advocacy initiative. National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has made the film mandatory for all counselor training programmes throughout India as part of their NACP III program.

Apart from filmmaking, Rangayan is also actively involved with human rights issues and the disability sector. He has made short film on cancer intervention and rehabilitation as well as several films on hearing impairment.

Movies

68 Pages

Drama/ 90 mins / India / 2007 / Hindi with English subtitles
Directed and Written by Sridhar Rangayan
Produced by The Humsafar Trust and Solaris Pictures

Coming from a country like India that is still in denial, where being HIV+ is still a curse, '68 Pages' rips open the underbelly of its society to reveal how it stigmatizes and shuns those who are HIV+ or even those who just want to be what they are. Through 68 Pages of a counselors diary, we see the stories of Paayal, a sex worker; Nishit, an ID user; Kiran, a gay man and Umrao, a transsexual bar dancer - their stories of pain and fear, humiliation and rejection - not only by the society, but even by their loved ones. While these stories expose the shallowness of the system, it also offers hope and healing by trying to bring about a better understanding of their fight to live with dignity. The film is a tribute to the human spirit of optimism and survival. { Source: imdb} [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1151299/]

Yours Emotionally!

Drama/Gay / HD / 86 mins / UK-India / 2006
Directed and Written by Sridhar Rangayan
Produced by Wise Thoughts (UK) and Solaris Pictures (India)

Two Brits, Ravi and Paul travel to India where they meet Murthy and Anna an older gay couple that have managed to form a partnership and live together for over 20 years. When Ravi meets and falls for Mani an Indian national who is betrothed to be married. He turns to the older couple for advise and help but traditions die hard in India. {Source: imdb} [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0818705/]

Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo (The Sensational Six)

Adventure/Children Film / 35mm / 90 mins / India / 2004 / Hindi with English subtitles
Directed by Sridhar Rangayan
Produced by the Children Film Society of India

What happens when you put four mischievous children together with a dog and a monkey? Lots of fun, of course! And that's what 'Chhakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo' (The Sensational Six) is all about - fun, adventure and learnings. The Sensational Six stumble upon a dark secret - of a dangerous smuggler Don Douglas who is all set to destroy the peace of the small town. Two of the boys are caught spying and taken away by the goons. How the rest of the team, with ingenuity and daring, rescue them leads to an exciting action-filled climax. Set in a picturesque Konkan village this entertaining story is also about the fight between the good and the evil and the truth that girls need not be any less than boys. Chhakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo is all about 'The Sensational Six' who not only have fun, but also are true-life Samaritans. {Source: imdb} [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0999927]

Winner: Bronze Remi Award at 37th WorldFest 2004, Houston

Screenings -
**34th Roshd International Film Festival, Teheran, Iran
**15th Cairo International Film Festival for Children Cairo, Egypt
**19th International Festival of Film and Video for Children and Young Adults, Isfahan, Iran
** 37th Annual WorldFest, Houston, Texas
** Lions Children Film Festival, Mumbai, India
** 11th Golden Elephant Int. Children Film Festival Hyderabad, India

The Pink Mirror

Drama/Gay / DV / 40 mins / India / 2003 / Hindi wst English
Directed and Written by Sridhar Rangayan
Produced by Solaris Pictures (India)

The Pink Mirror pits two Indian drag queens against a westernized gay teenager in a battle to woo a handsome hunk. It's a clash of the east and west. Who will win? The drag queens, who are expert in the art of seduction with their wit, innuendo and cunning or the young teenager who is saucy, slutty and sly? Underneath the campy humorous exterior, the film is an exploration of the Indian gay landscape and understanding of the deep, humanly tender bondings that exist between drag queens in India who form unique, non-patriarchal families. Using the Bollywood soap idiom of song, dance and drama and for the first time in the Indian drag queens' very own language, Hindi, the film also explores other veiled issues related to the Indian gay community: the lurking threat of HIV/AIDS. {Source: imdb} [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386499]

Awards

Rangayan and his films have won several awards, both Indian and international. They are as follows:

Silver Remi Award at WorldFest 2008, Houston (for film “68 Pages) [http://www.worldfest.org/downloads/winnerslist2008.pdf]

South Asian Achievers Award 2006 by Triangle Media, UK [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Triangle_Media_Group]
Jury Award for Best Film at ‘Fire Island Film Festival 2004, New York, USA (for film “Gulabi Aaina)
Bronze Remi Award at WorldFest 2004, Houston (for children film “Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo’ – CFSI ) [http://www.worldfest.org/downloads/winnerslist2004.pdf]
Best Film of the Festival award at ‘Question de Genre’ film festival 2003, Lille, France (for film “Gulabi Aaina)
RAPA award for Best Comedy Episode, 1999 (for “Piya Ka Ghar” – Gubbare, Zee TV)
RAPA award for Best Telefilm, 2000 (for “Khamoshiyaan” – Rishtey, Zee TV)

References

* BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3689509.stm]
* Notes from Hollywood [http://notesfromhollywood.com/templates/storydetailprintable.cfm?ID=1259&Sectionid=5&storyset=yes&typeofsite=storydetail]
* imdb [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1482161/news]
* The Asian News [http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/entertainment/s/506/506676_emotions_run_high_in_gay_film.html]