Director Onir’s ‘I Am’ won the award for the Best Narrative Feature Film at the 2nd Kashish-Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. The closing ceremony of India’s biggest queer festival was held at Cinemax-Versova, Andheri (West) on Sunday evening.

Accepting the award, Onir said, “Thank you Kashish, this is a very special award for three reasons. This is the first time I am getting an award in Mumbai. Secondly, I am happy to receive this award from Sai-ji with whom I started my career and lastly my lovely cast is here to support me.” Sai Paranjpye had been the festival’s Jury Chairperson.

Juhi Chawla said, “It is lovely to be here. I wish Kashish goes from strength to strength and scale to scale.”

Rahul Bose who had been to the festival last year for the premiere of the film’s trailer, recalled the way the festival had started. “The festival and me are on the margins, but when we have to be creative, it allows us to be more freer,” said Rahul Bose.

Sanjay Suri, the actor and producer of the film, thanked Kashish and the jury for selecting the film. He added to say, “The film wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of 400 persons from across the world who send in money to finance the film. This award is dedicated to all those people.”

On the other hand Sai Paranjpye said the decision to award ‘I Am’ was “unanimous”. The film was awarded for its “truly kaleidoscopic vision of the human condition”. “The film narrates four diverse stories, which deal with a spectrum of topics including same-gender relationships. The quartet is a marvellous portrait of contemporary social concerns, in sum their impact being bold as well as beautiful,” she said while reading the citation.