Keshav Suri’s Kitty Su reimagines nightlife as a vehicle for queer inclusion, proving that safety, dignity, and freedom are the highest forms of luxury. By centring LGBTQ+ artists, extending benefits to same-sex couples, and embedding respect into daily operations, The LaLiT shows that hospitality and humanity are inseparable, and that true luxury is the right to exist unapologetically.
There is a nightclub in India that made its way to being one of the best clubs in the world. Kitty Su in Mumbai was built on a premise that a lot of hospitality brands would not have the nerve to articulate: That inclusion is not a social cause bolted onto a business — it is the business.
Keshav Suri, executive director of the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and a prominent LGBTQ+ activist, has played a pivotal role in the movement to decriminalise Section 377 in India. Under his watch, Kitty Su has given more than 500 queer artists a stage, a livelihood, and in many cases, a path out of near-total invisibility — among them Rani Ko-HE-Nur, Maya the Drag Queen, Betta Naan Stop, and Kushboo, who arrived when drag in India was still dismissed as novelty. Today, they collaborate with Bollywood, OTT platforms, global brands, and fashion designers.
He also runs the Keshav Suri Foundation, which has impacted over a million lives through advocacy, skilling, and livelihood programmes, sponsored the National Transgender Persons Cricket Tournament, and extended medical insurance benefits at The Lalit to same-sex couples and single parents with adopted children.
And he is quietly building one of India's first serious private collections of queer art — at a time when the country has almost no institutional infrastructure to preserve these narratives. Robb Report India spoke to him about all of it.
Keshav Suri: At The LaLiT, we do not separate hospitality from humanity. Inclusion is not a parallel conversation to business; it is the business. Safety is a luxury. Dignity is luxury. Freedom is luxury. A queer couple checking in without fear, a trans guest being addressed correctly, a drag artist performing unapologetically — that, to me, is the highest form of hospitality. When people questioned whether a wheelchair-using DJ like Varun aka DJ Aamish could command a nightclub residency, I remember thinking: Perhaps the problem is not his wheelchair. Perhaps the problem is how limited society's imagination has been. Today, he is not seen as a disabled DJ. He is seen as an artist, a force, a phenomenon. Kitty Su was envisioned as a cultural movement. A sanctuary. That did not happen because we followed trends. It happened because we built culture with courage.
KS: When artists like Rani Ko-HE-Nur, Maya the Drag Queen, Betta Naan Stop, and Kushboo first stepped onto the Kitty Su stage, drag in India was still misunderstood and often dismissed as novelty entertainment. Today, these artists are cultural icons — performers, entrepreneurs, brand collaborators, and powerful voices shaping mainstream conversations. What started as nightlife slowly became a pipeline into mainstream culture. But I also believe we must be honest about the inequalities within the creator economy. Visibility often depends on privilege: Access to technology, English fluency, social networks, and financial stability. Many queer and trans individuals start without any of those advantages. Our responsibility cannot end with applause. And honestly, Indian drag artists have survived family rejection, societal judgment, algorithm bias, trolls, and impossible contouring under nightclub lighting. If that is not resilience, I do not know what is.
KS: Visibility alone is not liberation. A rainbow flag in June is easy. Building systems of dignity every single day is harder and far more important. Meaningful inclusion means your housekeeping team respectfully addresses a trans guest. It means your HR policies recognise same-sex partners. At The LaLiT, we extended medical insurance benefits to same-sex couples and single parents with adopted children because inclusion must exist in policy, not just publicity campaigns. And perhaps most importantly, it means creating spaces where people do not have to edit themselves to feel accepted. Of course, at Kitty Su, if someone wants to express themselves in six-inch heels, sequins, and a twelve-foot cape, we consider that cultural enrichment.
KS: The gaps are systemic and historical — very limited grants for queer art, very few institutions actively archive queer narratives. Almost no structured curriculum around queer creative histories. And for disabled artists, entering creative spaces often requires overcoming physical and social barriers before artistry can even begin to be recognised. We have seen interns who were once homebound begin navigating luxury hospitality spaces independently, interacting with guests, earning incomes, and reclaiming confidence. That transformation is not symbolic; it is life-changing. The dream was never for queer artists to remain performers at Kitty Su. The dream was for them to become household names, business owners, and cultural leaders. And today, many of them are doing exactly that.
KS: Art, for me, is deeply emotional. I collect works that make me feel something instantly — curiosity, discomfort, rebellion, intimacy, joy. What draws me to queer art specifically is its honesty and its refusal to dilute itself for acceptance. A queer viewer and a non-queer viewer can stand before the same canvas and experience entirely different truths, and I find that incredibly powerful. India still has very few spaces consistently preserving queer narratives through art. I believe India now needs its own queer artistic canon. Collectors, galleries, hotels, and cultural institutions all have a role to play in archiving these stories — not just of struggle, but of joy, beauty, desire, and celebration.
KS: Sport is one of the greatest equalisers because once the game begins, identity takes a backseat to talent, discipline, and teamwork. Cricket in India is almost a national religion, so when transgender athletes occupy that space proudly, it challenges perceptions at scale. Sometimes social change happens through policy. And sometimes it happens through a stadium cheering for a transgender athlete hitting a six.
KS: India receives less than one per cent of global LGBTQIA+ funding despite being home to nearly 18 per cent of the world's population. That gap cannot be solved through philanthropy alone. Businesses must step in meaningfully and consistently. Inclusion must move beyond campaigns and become an operational philosophy — through hiring, policies, accessibility, design, and leadership. India 2047 has the potential to become one of the world's most inclusive tourism destinations. But for that, hospitality must first learn how to welcome everyone authentically.