Someone who knows the Indian queer community would surely know who Sushant Divgikr is. From a journey of He to They, of exploring themselves and deciding to stand for a cause, Sushant has come a long way! They in their drag avatar are popular as Rani KoHEnur and have been in showbiz for over 15 years now.
After the scrapping of Section 377 in 2018, the number of queer films increased in Bollywood including Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga among others. We asked Sushant if the reception of such stories increased ever since then and they replied by saying,
¡°To be honest we are not doing much. I cannot be lying to you. When someone says that they are playing a transgender character then it's not a vocational triumph that they are happy with lauds and claps. It¡¯s our reality which we live in.¡±
¡°If there¡¯s a biopic on SRK, you won¡¯t see Deepika playing him on-screen. That¡¯s why a trans character played by a cis heterosexual individual is unbelievable. If you say that an artist should be allowed to play any character on screen then you let us also play men and women. That also no no, ¡®ye aurat bhi nahi lagta mard bhi nahi, to sushmita sen hijra lagti hai?¡¯¡±
For the unversed, actress Sushmita Sen is all set to play Shree Gauri Sawant, a transgender activist in her biopic.
¡°There¡¯s no shade to Sushmita. She¡¯s one of my idols. But there shouldn¡¯t be that appearance-wise judgement.¡± When asked why were trans actors not cast in such roles, Rani said, ¡°Ask the directors. It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t audition but then we become a tick in the box.?They would say, 'No, we auditioned Rani, Rachael and Rudrani' but who did end up taking? A biological cis woman. So why all this facade?¡±
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We further asked why the community leaders aren¡¯t fighting for a space then Sushant voiced his strong thoughts. ¡°Why it is coming to us that we didn¡¯t oppose, why aren¡¯t actors saying no to this? If Scarlet Johanson, Halle Berry and all of these international stars say we can¡¯t play trans characters and give it to trans actors, why you are not letting go out of it?¡±
¡°Aapne ek trans character play nahi kiya to aapke ghar pe kya taale lag jaayenge? But hamaari to life ban jaaegi na?¡±
Sushant said that one of the possible reasons for the community to support such an act is because ¡°maybe we are getting paid to do it. So what? And that¡¯s a reality of it.¡±
We asked: ¡°Why not you?¡±
¡°Honestly why not me? If I can be a Marvel character and can represent India on several international platforms, pay my taxes and be a productive member of society, be more educated than most of the policymakers then why not?¡±, the Bigg Boss season 8 contestant shared.
Taking the conversation towards community portrayal in Indian cinema Sushant told us, ¡°Back in the 90s, the industry destroyed the morale of community by its miserable portrayal of queer characters but I think it's getting better now by at least good scripts and a little community advocacy through some films.¡±
Also Read: Sheer Qorma Producer Neeraj Churi Extends His Support For Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage In India
Filmmaker Karan Johar has received backlash several times for his portrayal of queer characters onscreen. Shedding light on it, Divgikr said, ¡°I would like to tell Karan that we as a community are very close-knit. If you gonna show us in a certain way then to be honest it's not going to change anything for us.¡±
Sushant who loves the early years of cinema has actresses like Rekha, Raveena Tandon, Madhuri Dixit and Urmila Matondkar as their favourites.
While discussing the portrayal of women in films back then, Sushant said, ¡°They were very toxic and portrayed women in a weak light and these actresses come to support us. We feel like telling them ¡®didi hamko aake aapko support karna chahiye (laughs)¡¯. But surely, it¡¯s high time that we need to stop objectifying women.¡±
Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar starrer Badhai Do recently swept Filmfare but the makers didn¡¯t share a word for the LGBT+ community on whom the film was made. Sushant in their defence shared, ¡°See it this way, I may not be the petitioner in ongoing hearing but that doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t feel for the cause. Jitna paise wo under the table dete hai wo utna show sha nahi karte. They don¡¯t make a noise about it. We need to understand that they may be boycotted or cancelled. In 17 years of career, I just got one film, so there are apprehensions.¡±
¡°Not they, me or anybody else but the policymakers are answerable. If they safeguard our interests then we will be shown in a positive light and things will then become generalised.¡±
He then shared, ¡°I think equal marriage rights are very important. It is extremely integral to the fact that it sanctions the relationship between two consenting individual adults in this democracy of India. Why am I paying taxes if I can¡¯t live my life the way I want? I would better invest in the education of my girls.¡±
Sushant continued, ¡°There¡¯s no space for us in the gender budget. This is important for us as a nation then only we will be able to go out and truly say that we are India, the land of diversity.¡±?
Divgikar recently spoke at Procter & Gamble India (P&G India)¡¯s annual #WeSeeEqual Summit.
Sharing his experience of it, the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contestant shared, ¡°It¡¯s very integral that organisations do this. Not just for their employees but with a motive that it becomes a working functional module for companies who don¡¯t know or are aware of how to go about the more inclusive for their employees. It was my pleasure to be a part of this.¡±
¡°Through We See Equal, I see that more people getting the opportunity to be themselves and for me, there¡¯s nothing bigger than that.¡±
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