India’s first gay film ‘Badnam Basti’ to screen at KASHISH 2020

‘Badnam Basti’, India’s first gay film released in 1971 only to be lost to obscurity for around five decades, before it was found in a Berlin archive, will be screened at KASHISH 2020.

The online edition of 11th KASHISH Mumbai International Film Festival was inaugurated on 22nd July and is on till 29th July 2020. It will screen 157 films from 47 countries, including ‘Badnam Basti’ and 29 other Indian films.

‘Badnam Basti’ was directed by Prem Kapoor and centers on a love triangle between two men and one woman on the margins of society.

Speaking about how the festival managed to get ‘Badnam Basti’, festival director Sridhar Rangayan says, “It all started off with an email by Lyle Pearson, a journalist who has been attending KASHISH every year, traveling all the way from the USA. He connected us to studio Arsenal in Germany who had recently discovered a copy of the film and restored it digitally. While we got the copy from Arsenal, we had a challenge tracking down Hari Om Kapoor, the son of the director to get permission to screen. When he gave us the permission, our joy knew no bounds, and we are delighted to present this unique film to the world through the KASHISH platform.”

‘Badnam Basti’ will screen on Wednesday 29th July 2020.