The big opening night for the 15th KASHISH Pride Film Festival 2024 took place at the iconic Liberty Cinema on the 15th of May, 2024 in the city of Mumbai. 

The evening was lined up with announcements for special awards, some spectacular performances by standup comedian & filmmaker Varun Grover, and a Lavni & Kathak jugalbandi by Aditi Bhargav and Harshada Jambekar. 

The hosts for the night were Anu Menon aka Lola Kutty & SeduQtress SoniQa who entertained the audiences with their fun banter and lively presence on stage.  

The winner of the International Poster Contest with the theme - Unfurl Your Pride, Sithesh C. Govind was awarded the KASHISH butterfly trophy and a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and the award was handed over to him by Jury Member Sonali Kulkarni. Actor Rajshree Deshpande felicitated the first runner up Sangeetha Nandakumar and second runner up Vaibhav Tanna.

The KASHISH Rainbow Voices Award was awarded to director Jeo Baby for his film Kaathal The Core. This award was presented by Laapata Ladies fame director Kiran Rao who is also a Jury Member for the festival this year. 

Actor and Jury Member Barun Sobhti presented the Rainbow Champion Award to Manvendra Singh Gohil, the founder of Lakshya Trust in Gujarat for his extensive work for the LGBTQ+ community especially for the transgender individuals.