Late in May, Kashish, Mumbai’s only international gay and lesbian film festival, was attended by hundreds of queers, in what was an upturn in numbers from last year’s edition. On the final day, as is now the accepted practice at any self-regarding festival (even one with a social conscience), there was an awards ceremony, replete with some mujra-style dancing, acceptance speeches, a feverish RJ working the crowd with nudge-nudge-wink-wink innuendo, and a benevolent cameo by the guest of honour, Anupam Kher, who promptly raised the bounty for the best film by Rs 50,000. The sole category where the entries were exclusively Indian was that for the best narrative short film. When member of the jury, Renuka Shahane, much beloved of queer audiences ever since her role in Hum Aapke Hai Kaun..!, took the podium, she announced regretfully that there was to be no award this year as none of the films (which included a couple of crowd favourites) were up to the mark.

Gleefully yours: The cast and crew of 'Glee' pose with the award for Best Television Series— Comedy Or Musical,at the 68th annual Golden Globe awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on January 16, 2011. Pic/AFP