After a decade of queer Bollywood revelry, Rangeela prepares for one last party

Usually Abha Apte is a dressed down type of a person. But for the last Rangeela, a Bollywood party and performance event that's been a fixture for the queer South Asian community from Toronto and beyond, she has decided to go all gold.

"At Rangeela, I want to be a huge chandelier. I want to be the shiniest person there. I want to sparkle and be so bright," says Apte, 32, a data scientist. "It's the one event where I look for an outfit weeks in advance, maybe even months."

Self-described as "Fully Queer. Fully Filmi. Fully Not-For-Profit," Rangeela started out thirteen years ago as a fundraiser. This Saturday (June 29), as part of Pride celebrations, Rangeela will host their final event titled Subha (Morning). Like all Rangeela events, it promises to be an evening of music, revelry, high fashion and camp — along with many tears being shed for what fans are calling "an end of an era." 

Rangeela started out in response to the 2010 floods in Pakistan, considered to be one of the country's worst humanitarian disasters. Spurred on to do their part to help out, Waseem Shaikh, Shazad Hai, Imran Nayani and Siva Gunaratnam put together an event geared towards Toronto's South Asian queer community.

The four men had met through ASAAP (Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention) and became close friends. Their first fundraiser event in October 2010 became a blueprint for what would eventually become Rangeela. The response to the fundraiser was overwhelming, and they decided to volunteer their time to produce parties catering to that audience. At the time, there was a gap when it came to safe South Asian queer spaces — although Shaikh is quick to point out that Rangeela follows a long tradition of similar events such as Desh Pardesh, FunkAsia and Besharam that offered up a sense of community.

The first official Rangeela event took place in June 2011, he adds. It made sense to organise it around Pride celebrations as a coming out of sorts. They made their first poster "in-house."

"We had Imran standing with a table lamp … I don't actually know what the concept was. We thought we were being really edgy because there was caution tape and someone in a salwar-kameez (tunic and pants) and a tikka (head adornment)," says Shaikh, during a four-way Zoom call, filled with frequent bouts of laughter.

"And bangles I think," adds Gunaratnam.

"When that first poster came out, it was the first time you saw a brown person on a poster advertising a party," says Hai. "Otherwise you would see black or white males with chiselled abs on these big circuit party posters for Pride, and you would never see any [South Asian] representation. Our poster came out and we just plastered it all over Church Street."

The posters went on to become a signature part of Rangeela's party announcements, featuring a theme and an elaborate photoshoot with props and professional photography. Like the posters, the parties also developed into a playground for the imagination.

At first, their parties were held at Club 120, a nightclub popular for its inclusivity that shut down in 2020. By 2015, however, Rangeela had outgrown the capacity of that space that could hold about "250-300 people," says Hai. While events related to Pride celebrations have been held at the Opera House since 2019, their regular programming moved to Revival Bar.

Rangeela started to incorporate stage shows, with drag queens and other performances, featuring local and international talent. Held every couple of months, the production value was ever evolving. Their themes graduated from reflecting angsty teens to rebellious adults to "not needing to always push the envelope," says Shaikh. The decor and lighting started to incorporate detailed set pieces. There was always a space curated for patrons to do photo shoots and upload to their Instagram feeds. 

"We graduated from a Dollarama aesthetic to Party City," says Gunaratnam.

"None of us really wanted to be a nightlife promoter. This was not the plan. We just did a fundraiser. [Six years in] there had to be something in it for us. It wasn't the money because it's a not-for-profit. So we said — Okay, there has to be some creative satisfaction to this," says Shaikh, the artistic ringleader of the team. 

The audience responded in kind. They showed up to the parties ready to flaunt and party. Apte had heard about Rangeela while living in Vancouver. It was unimaginable to her that such a space could exist where she could dance to Bollywood music. Soon after moving to Toronto with her wife in the summer of 2020, Apte attended her first Rangeela. 

"They played three of my top favourite Bollywood songs, one after another. It was a surreal moment. Growing up in India, I didn't think Bollywood music was for me. The lyrics are about heterosexual love and romance. But in that moment, my three top songs playing, and I'm surrounded by all these queer people, it all felt connected," she says. 

For Humza Mian, Rangeela was the first one of the first big venues to perform as his drag queen persona Mango Lassi. It took Mian a year after Shaikh reached out to prepare for Mango Lassi's debut on the Rangeela stage.

"I was so afraid of performing, I didn't know what it would encompass," says Mian, 34, in a phone interview. He ended up on the line-up for the 420 themed Rangeela. "It was perfect. I danced to Dum Maro Dum (an iconic Bollywood song featuring a tripped out Zeenat Aman). I Macgyvered this huge joint that shot glitter out of both ends.

"I remember I was so nervous getting ready. The performance was at midnight. Waseen came to the back, and Shazad. They came to give me a pep talk. I think I killed it."

While Mango Lassi won't have Rangeela as a platform to perform anymore, Mian has mixed feelings about the event coming to an end. He's a big believer in change, he says. Besides, he cares deeply for the four organisers and respects their decision to call it a night.

"I have grown up alongside these people, and I want to see them succeed. I almost wish that [Rangeela] didn't come to an end. But people grow and change. Who knows what the future holds," he says.

For Shaikh, Nayani, Hai and Gunaratnam, it's time to wrap up the party. Rangeela took over their lives, and left them feeling burnt out. They reached their goals as far as the event itself was concerned but they'd been unable to give space to other aspects of their personal lives like making time for family and loved ones. Plus, the quartet wants the party to end on a high note.

"Rangeela became this gravitational force that just kept us together through so many life evolutions because we started this in our 20s, and we are all on the brink of 40," says Hai. "We needed that grounding force to be like — whatever is going on in life, we will come together for Rangeela."

The theme for the final Rangeela, Subha, is in reference to the many mornings the four friends would end up leaving the venue, after finishing the last of the clean up. 

"When we walked home, the sun would be rising," says Shaikh.

What might a last shot of Rangeela look like for the four friends? It's not a place they have allowed themselves to go mentally, they say.

"It's not going to hit us until later, until we're backstage. Maybe during the cleanup," says Nayani. "I don't think it's fully the end because it started with us as friends, and we're going to continue that legacy. In some ways, that's the most important part."

Get tickets for Rangeela June 29th, 2024 at The Opera House in Toronto.