The most exciting artists and creatives throughout history have all been queer we clearly have something special to offer,” he smiles as she signs off. It’s wild because queer desis have always existed and always will. I hope that my freedom can give others the same because growing up, there were no desi LGBTQ+ role models for me to look up to.
Chora liya free#
“As Toni Morrison said, ‘The function of freedom is to free someone else’. Le Liya Dil, Dm G Oh Haai Mera Dil A Haai. In his experience, LGBTQ+ South Asians feel unsafe about coming out as the potential fear of violence can make going public with their identity an impossible task. Intro Am G Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko Am E Nazar Nahin Churaana Sanam Am G Badalke Meri Tum Zindagaani Am Kahin Badal Na Jaana Sanam Dm G Oh, Le Liya Dil, Dm G Oh Haai Mera Dil A Haai. So, what is the change he would like to see for furthering queer representation in the mainstream eye and divorcing the movement from platitudes and tokenism? “The reality is that queer people need protection before there can be representation,” he corrects. However, he also takes heart in noting that for every hate comment spewed by an anonymous troll, there are countless DMs from queer South Asians who are inspired to live their lives more authentically after watching his example.
Looking back, he credits the vagaries of the music industry for helping him develop a thick skin. In addition to co-writing the popular British song ‘Head & Heart’ by Joel Corry & MNEK, he has also been leveraging his background as a trained Hindustani singer to blend musical ideas from the East and the West. The payoff for embracing his real self and striking a balance between his dual cultural identities is perhaps most evocative in his work as a songwriter and musician. This is when my sense of style really began to blossom,” he shares.
I was able to connect with the fearlessness of my childhood one that had gotten lost when I became self-conscious about my femininity. Over the pandemic, without the pressures of the outside world and away from the gaze of my family, I realised that I was non-binary and that I didn’t have to be like a boy or a girl-I could just be myself.
Eventually, I began experimenting with Indian influences… I would accessorise with my mother’s jhumkas and wear ’60s Bollywood-style kiss-curls in my hair. On a subconscious level, this was because I didn’t want to become a target for homophobia. “In my early album artworks on Spotify, I wanted to disappear in all black, like a shadow. Despite having an eye for fashion and flicking through his mom’s issues of Vogue after school, he recalls sticking to an all-black uniform when he began releasing music as an artist. However, if Kalyan can croon ballads in a bodycon number today, it is a confidence that has been hard-earned over the years.
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