The new-age cinema has been making visible attempts, in its own way, to be more inclusive. From representation of the LGBTQ+ community to speaking of mental health issues, Bollywood has a new-found fascination. However, the bare minimum efforts made in the name of inclusivity has remained a mere ‘woke trend’. A bandwagon probably every filmmaker wants to jump on but barely makes strides in the process.
Case in point, Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor starrer Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui picking a cis-woman to essay the role of a transwoman.
On top of that, the film hardly made any major contribution when it came to trans representation. It just pushed the envelope for mainstream Hindi cinema.
However, these stories of the marginalised communities on the big screen have got us talking about the right kind of efforts. Meanwhile, we came across a post on Instagram by the Gaysi family on trans-actors.
So if Bollywood is planning to bring in more trans-inclusive films, or become more inclusive in general, then casting teams can consider these trans actors:
1. Anjali Ameer
The trans-actor, who has predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil films, gained recognition after featuring as the lead in Peranbu. Besides that, the 26-year-old was the first transgender contestant to participant in Bigg Boss Malayalam.
2. Kalki Subramanian
A trans rights activist and actor, Kalki Subramanian, played her first lead role in the 2011 Tamil film Narthagi. Later, she also had a cameo appearance in Sarkar which gained her immense popularity.
3. Ivanka Das
She began her career in the entertainment industry as a model and later participated in the dance reality show, Dance Deewane. Das’ debut role featured her as a brothel owner in the 2019 web-series Ye Hai #Mandi. She essayed a trans-woman in the Netflix web series Bombay Begums as well.
4. Mairembam Ronaldo Singh
Mairembam, who aspired to be an actor since she was child, got her first break in Anushka Sharma’s Paatal Lok. The actor played the role of Cheeni, a trangender, in the series and gained praises for her portrayal.
5. Aneesh Sheth
The Indian-American actress became Marvel’s first trans character as she played Gillian in the Netflix series Jessica Jones. Besides the Marvel project, she has featured in other TV shows such as High Maintenance, Outsourced and Difficult People.
6. Namitha Marimuthu
Model and actor Namitha represented India at the Miss Trans Star International in 2019. She made her debut with Nadodigal 2 directed by Samuthirakani. Other than that, she was one of the contestants in Bigg Boss Tamil season 5.
7. Shree Ghatak
Actor and social activist Shree Ghatak made her Bollywood debut in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s Season’s Greetings. The 2019 film delves into the changing dynamics of complex human relationships.
Bollywood has come a long way when it comes to representation of the trans-community in films. But the sanitised versions of trans-inclusive stories aren’t enough in these times.