London, UK – Following its acclaimed world premiere at the 2024 UK Asian Film Festival and having travelled to 25 film festivals, winning 11 awards, Kuch Sapney Apne (Dreams Such As Ours) makes a triumphant return to London for a special Diwali festival theatrical screening at Genesis Cinema on Saturday 18th October at 1PM.
Written and directed by Sridhar Rangayan, founder of South Asia’s largest LGBTQ+ film festival, KASHISH and Saagar Gupta (Breaking Free 2015, Evening Shadows 2018), this moving feature stars acclaimed actors Mona Ambegaonkar, Shishir Sharma, Satvik Bhatia, Arpit Chaudhary and Abhay Kulkarni.
Kuch Sapney Apne centers on a gay couple but ultimately explores the complexities of love and relationships across generations. The film follows Kartik (Satvik Bhatia) and Aman (Arpit Chaudhary) as they navigate love, betrayal, and acceptance. Kartik’s mother, Vasudha (Mona Ambegaonkar), supports her son despite clashing with her conservative husband, Damodar (Shishir Sharma). After Damodar publicly humiliates Aman and strikes Vasudha, she leaves him to live with the couple. Meanwhile, Damodar’s brother, Ramesh (Abhay Kulkarni), embraces his identity as a transgender person, adding another layer to the film’s exploration of self-acceptance.
The story also highlights the deep bonds among the women, Vasudha, her sister-in-law Sarita, and Latha (Ramesh’s wife) who support each other through personal upheavals. Powerful performances, especially by Mona Ambegaonkar, Shishir Sharma and Abhay Kulkarni, anchor the film’s emotional core.
Through its sensitive portrayal of patriarchy and queer identity, the directors craft a heartfelt narrative enriched by three songs sung by Rekha & Vishal Bhardwaj, Shaan, Shashwat Singh & queer icon Sushant Divgikar. Kuch Sapney Apne is less about sexuality and more about love, courage, and the human need for connection.
Supported by the Gay Indian Network, the London screening aims to amplify the voices and visibility of South Asian LGBTQ+ communities. Founder Mayank Joshi shares, “Representation matters, Visibility matters, Role Models matter. As LGBTQ+ people of Indian origin in the UK, we are a small minority and often not visible in films and documentaries. It is important for us to see stories that show brown queer people like us. Films that show the breadth of our experiences that are relevant and pertinent to us. Sridhar Rangayan’s films connect us to our LGBTQ identity, connect us to India, and shine a torch on our experience, our issues, our heartaches and our joys, beautifully and publicly on the shiny big screen.”
Film academic Dr Ashvin Devasundaram, Reader in Global Cinemas at Queen Mary University, adds: “Kuch Sapney Apne is a stellar sequel to Sridhar Rangayan’s compelling coming out family saga – Evening Shadows (2018). This uplifting and energising film is a paean to free and empowered self-expression of sexualities. Importantly, it also pays tribute to the power of parental solidarities with LGBTQI+ offspring in metropolitan India.
A wonderfully vibrant melange of entertaining and emotionally immersive storytelling, this film celebrates a spectrum of LGBTQI+ identities in contemporary India. Crucially, this film hyperlinks the monumental overturning in 2018 of the antiquated British-era anti-homosexuality legislation, Section 377, to the current campaign to legalise same-sex marriage, currently stymied by the Indian politico-legal system. As this film clairvoyantly conveys, equal marriage rights constitute a logical continuum of that first historic and euphoric victory. Kuch Sapney Apne embraces us with the hope that it is only a matter of time before this second dream will be fulfilled.”
Neeraj Churi, producer of the Sundance winner Indian gay film Sabar Bonda, said, “As Kuch Sapna Apne comes to London, it feels deeply personal. The film speaks of ordinary lives, quiet dreams, and everyday courage. Of stories that travel across borders and yet feel like home. I genuinely hope it resonates with audiences here.”
Audiences will also have the opportunity to engage in a live Q&A with director Sridhar Rangayan, hosted by BAFTA-nominated non-binary screenwriter, director, producer and inclusion consultant, Shiva Raichandani.
Sridhar Rangayan shares his excitement: “We are thrilled to be screening our film, Kuch Sapney Apne as an independent theatrical release in London during the Diwali festive period. There couldn’t have been a more joyful period to bring this film, which celebrates relationships queer or otherwise. The film portrays a happy gay relationship, devoid of stereotypes, that is rare to find in Indian cinema.”
The film screening followed by director Q&A will take place on Saturday 18th October from 1pm at Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, Bethnal Green, London E1 4UJ.
For more information and to book please visit https://www.genesiscinema.co.uk/event/102044
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