Filmmakers at the Rainbow Lit Fest Share Screening Struggles and How Indian Queer Films are Invisible at Home

The Rainbow Lit Fest in Delhi, which concluded its 5th edition on December 7, showcased a telling paradox of contemporary Indian queer cinema. Tara, a short film exploring Dalit trans experiences, marked its Delhi premiere after a three-year journey from conception to screen. The Lime Green Shirt, a movie about generational trauma and queer identity, also made its feature. Meanwhile, on the larger front, Indian queer films like Sabar Bonda (internationally titled Cactus Pears), which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, earned a paltry Rs. 0.22 crore in its domestic run as per reports, despite international acclaim spanning over 25 festival screenings.

This isn't deliberate scheduling; it's the reality of a suffocating ecosystem where queer films struggle against censorship, budget constraints, and systemic indifference. As Kaushik Ray, producer of Sabar Bonda, observed, "Even Karan Johar has said himself that he doesn't want to do any more independent films like Homebound because economically, it just isn't working."

Censorship as Gatekeeping

The CBFC's treatment of socially conscious cinema reveals institutional gatekeeping that disproportionately affects queer narratives. Santosh, which confronts misogyny, caste discrimination, and police brutality, was blocked from Indian release despite premiering at Cannes and earning a BAFTA nomination. At RLF, we talked to Shahana Goswami, the lead actress of the film, “The tensions and tussles between the mass cinema and parallel cinema movement have to be seen together. Both need to exist; one cannot exist without the other. There are challenges to our work. But the choice has to be made.”

Even for Homebound, India’s official entry to the Oscars for this year, backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, faced 11 modifications totalling over a minute of footage. For queer filmmakers without mainstream backing, this censorship creates insurmountable barriers. As Ashutosh S. Shankar, director of Tara, reflected, "We are living in a time where it is a little difficult. I think we just have to deal with it, unfortunately. But at the same time, spaces like these sort of are a reminder and a realisation that our stories can still be platformed."

The Economics of Invisibility

Sabar Bonda, the first Marathi-language film at Sundance, earned 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and screened at over 25 international festivals. Yet its Indian theatrical release earned roughly $11,5000, as per reports. Ray articulated the bitter mathematics, "We're in a fourth week run in New York, which is incredible. We had only four weeks in Delhi, five weeks in Pune, despite the home market. Reality is, you know, we potentially would go on to Netflix with Sabar Bonda. But at the end of the day, the money isn't there."

Zena Sagar, producer of Tara and one of India's first transgender producers, explained the structural challenges, "There are very few organisations that structurally support social impact films like Tara in India, which makes funding deeply challenging. It pushed me to think towards atypical routes. Finding solidarity and support from Rita Meher from Tasveer, Neeraj Churi from Lotus Visual Productions and Ish Maini who teaches law at O.P Jindal Law school currently, alongside conscious donors and a community who believed in the project, this transnational and focused backing is what made it possible to piece the film together in the absence of institutional support. We need more support for our impact campaign and I am hopefully for the journey." She took the extraordinary risk of producing under her own Indian entity, knowing that a logline stating "Dalit trans woman goes into a dating pool of Bombay" would limit festival acceptance for Tara.

Alternative Spaces and the Hope of Community

Filmmakers have turned to alternative exhibition spaces and community-driven distribution. Zena articulated a vision for Tara's distribution, "Our plan is to bring forth to eight cities. We're calling them impact cities so that larger conversations can be created and a model can emerge, which has already been done in Europe a lot." This approach prioritises depth over breadth, creating what she described as "allies for your work at the end of the day."

Ray emphasised the importance of these spaces, "As a queer person, you also want to be in a space that celebrates nothing but you and that aspect of—because it is, it's obviously about community, but it's also about not having to explain yourself." However, filmmakers recognised the limitations of confining themselves to queer-only spaces. Ashutosh reflected, "I think that yes, queer spaces are important. But I also feel like, as filmmakers or as storytellers, it's also important to not be in silos."

Shahana emphasises the community aspect as well, “I’m glad that we have spaces like RLF to be able to promote our work, but the onus is also on us, the community of film-watchers. If we can spread and become word-of-mouth chains, have watch parties, make friends watch, even that one extra seating or ticket would help.”

Creating Until They Can't Stop Us

The challenges facing queer cinema in India are multilayered and mutually reinforcing. Yet filmmakers persist with remarkable resilience. Ashutosh encapsulated this determination, "Keep making it and not consider that as a barrier to not self-censor ourselves. It's almost like you create so many of them that at the end of it, it almost becomes difficult for people to stop it. So that's the hope."

Zena’s vision extends to systemic change through her upcoming venture dedicated to building capacity for Trans, NB, DBA (Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi), - marginalised & underrepresented creators. Her approach centres on authorship. "The bottom line is that there is a problem of authorship and representation. Too often, people are encountered through someone else’s gaze—as subjects of interpretation—rather than as authors of their own stories."

The international success of these films proves that Indian queer cinema possesses the quality to compete globally. The barrier isn't talent—it's access. Until the structural barriers of censorship, funding, and distribution are dismantled, these stories will continue to premiere in alternative spaces, celebrated by those who understand their value whilst remaining invisible to the broader audiences who need them most.