Pioneers: Ryan Lanji

What does your work involve? 

I am a cultural producer, curator and television presenter. I have spent the past decade championing LGBTQIA awareness and visibility for South Asian creatives. My queer, alternative Bollywood night, HUNGAMA, which started as a small club night held in a pub, has become an international movement of artists and creatives, and kickstarted the careers of many queer South Asian creatives in music, fashion and art, thanks to the connections it generated.  

After winning the Netflix series, The Big Flower Fight, and BBC Three’s Big Proud Party Agency, my work went on to feature in global press, including GQ Style, Vogue India and the Gay Times.

In 2023, I won Attitude Magazine’s Pride ICON Award. My work now spans fashion, art, culture and even fitness from my position at the helm of a new collective entitled NDY (Not Dead Yet), which helped over thousands of queer people of colour around the world access free fitness in 2020 during the pandemic. The collective has now partnered with Adidas to develop a queer-inclusive fitness collective for non-binary, trans and queer people of colour.

What inspires you? 

I take great inspiration from Andy Warhol and New York in the 80s. The city and that time was a mosaic of amazing artists, icons and voices who came together to collaborate, experience subculture and change the way the world looked at art and music. It has always been the main reference for my drive.

To have created a South Asian parallel of Studio 54 (New York’s iconic nightclub from the 80s) with HUNGAMA has been deeply humbling and to know it has a place in the history of London subculture fills me with joy. The idea that a night created by me has become a moment that not only brought South Asians together but also acted as a safe place for those who were finding out who they were and how they could manifest their dreams has been an incredible feeling, which I look for in all my work.

What message would you give to the next generation? 

I would tell the next generation to live boldly and with more authenticity. We have long yearned for our faces and races to be visible in the creative arts and many courageous South Asians have pioneered places at the table for us.

We are proud to have shed stereotypes and now it’s our time to redefine what we are capable and deserving of. No matter what you do in your life make sure you are proud, defiant and ensure equality and love for yourself and everyone around you.