Five times Bollywood aced the portrayal of transgender in Hindi cinema

By Suman Chaurasia: Former Miss Universe and Bollywood actor Sushmita Sen have been roped in to essay the role of famous transgender activist Shreegauri Sawant in an upcoming biopic titled Taali बजाऊँगी नहीं, बजवाऊँगी. The actor recently broke the internet by revealing her first look from the web series. Looking at a poster of the web series, there is little doubt that the veteran actress is set to dazzle the OTT platform with her sheer talent and next-to-perfect portrayal of the transgender character.

In this article, we have listed five actors who who went extra mile to get into the character’s skin and pulled it off with utmost ease. 

Prashant Narayanan – Murder 2 (2011)

Dheeraj Pandey’s character had the potential to send chills down the spine of the bravest of all. A psychopath serial killer dressed as a eunuch on a mission to murder call girls took the suspense thriller to an altogether different level. Prashant Narayanan’s performance as a eunuch was the only takeaway from the movie starring Emran Hashmi and Jacqueline Fernandez. Though the film seemed to be a remake of the 2008 South Korean movie The Chaser, the makers claimed that it was inspired by the 2006 Nithari killings that took place in Noida, UP.

Akshay Kumar-Laxmi (2020)

Akshay Kumar is not a perfectionist, but he is a man who has perfected the art of experimenting with his potential. He guarantees success at the box office with his commercial dramas, but often he breaks the barrier with unconventional portrayal. Laxmi was yet another testimony of the fact that Akshay Kumar is not just a commercial actor, but method acting is also his genre. Laxmi stands outs as one of his best portrayals where he played a transgender or eunuch for the first -time on screen. Sharad Kelkar was another actor who gave his best as a eunuch in the horror-comedy. 

Paresh Rawal – Tammana (1997) 

Tammana is more than a movie; the actors who decorated the movie with unparalleled skills and potential are more than ‘just an actor.’ Among the likes, Manoj Bajpayee, Pooja Bhatt and Paresh Rawal, aka Tikku, grouped to convert a script into a class. Tammana bagged the National Award in 1998, and Paresh Rawal sir earned unmatchable respect from all of us. While Paresh sir has delivered many mindboggling performances in his illustrious career, his portrayal of Tikku in Tammana will be rated among the best. Inspired by real-life transgender named Tikku, Tammana is remembered for Paresh Rawal sir’s impeccable act of the enunch who brings up a little girl who loses her mother. 

Sadashiv Amprapukar-Sadak (1991) 

Prolific actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar rose to fame when he played the role of Maharani in Mahesh Bhatt’s 1991 film Sadak. His act of an evil transgender pimp running a brothel carved a new definition of acting in Hindi cinema. Downgraded by many as ‘gross’ at the time of the movie’s release, Mahesh Bhatt, director of the movie, wrote, ‘Sadashiv was an enigmatic person who touched the raw chord of the nation with his inspiring characterisation of sari-clad menacing Maharani.’ Such was the class of Sadashiv that the actor bagged the year’s ‘best villain Filmfare trophy for his memorable act. 

Ashutosh Rana-Shabnam Mausi (2005), Sangharsh (1999) 

Ashutosh Rana is not an actor, but he is an emotion who knows to touch the nation’s pulse. He is among the best actors in Hindi cinema and has proven his metal numerous times. With his sheer potential, Mr Rana played a transgender character, a dreaded Lajja Shankar Pandey in Sangharsh, where he kidnapped children and sacrificed them to become immortal. Since his outstanding performance, he has been labelled as the scariest villain in Bollywood.

Donning the red saree, nose pin and pallu with ease and saying the fiery lines standing opposite Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta is jaw-dropping. In his other portrayal of enunch, Ashutosh Rana sir played the main lead in Shabnam Mausi. This biopic was based on Shabnam Mausi, who was the first transgender Indian to be elected as MLA to the Madhya Pradesh state legislative assembly from 1998 to 2003. Both times Ashutosh Rana nailed his performances.