10 Trans Actors Who Are Changing The Face Of Indian Cinema But Need More Love From Bollywood
Here is a list of trans actors celebrities who are boosting LGBTQ+ visibility on screen and need more love from Bollywood.
Do you know who is behind critically acclaimed movies like Lipstick Under My Burkha, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Qarib Qarib Singlle, Mismatched and Feels Like Ishq? Indian screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal is a trans woman. When she watched Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, she was moved.
For long, we saw men dressed up in saree play trans roles on screen, but cinema is changing for the good gradually. Why do we say gradually? Because a trans woman could have easily been cast in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. Similarly, while Vijay Raaz has done a commendable job in Gangubai Kathiawadi, people still feel that a trans woman should have portrayed that role, and rightly so.
So, here is a list of trans actors celebrities who are boosting LGBTQ+ visibility on screen and need more love from Bollywood.
1. Living Smile Vidya
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Fondly called Smiley, Living Smile Vidya is an Indian trans woman actor, assistant director, writer, and trans and Dalit rights activist from Chennai. She has acted in several short films including Kandal Pookkal and 500 and 5, and in documentary films like Aghrinaigal and Butterfly. She was the subject of the award-winning Kannada film Naanu Avanalla...Avalu, which is based on her autobiography of the same name.
2. Anjali Ameer
Anjali Ameer won praises when she played the lead role in Tamil film Peranbu. The actress has predominantly been working in Tamil and Malayalam movies was also the first transgender contestant to appear in Bigg Boss Malayalam.
3. Ivanka Das
Actress, dancer, choreographer, model, and drag queen, Ivanka Das was seen in Dance Deewane and the Netflix series Bombay Begums. Apart from this, she has also featured in MTV Beats Love Duet album song Khud Ko Hi Paake with Nikhita Gandhi.
4. Mairembam Ronaldo Singh
Mairembam Ronaldo Singh, also known as Henthoi Mairembam on social media, made her debut with the Indian web series Pataal Lok and instantly she won the heart of the audience. She essayed the role of Cheeni, a young transgender girl abandoned by her family. Through this role, she brought forth the struggles of LGBTQ community and how society treats them.
5. Kalki Subramaniam
The trans rights activist and actress Kalki got recognition for her role in Sarkar in song Oru Viral Puratchi which made her very popular. She was also seen in the 2011 Tamil movie Narthagi and Hindi movie Kalashnikov - The Lone Wolf which won the best film jury honours at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival
6. Shree Ghatak
Kolkata's first transgender to feature in a Bollywood movie, Shree Ghatak was seen in SeasonĄ¯s Greetings in 2019. She is also the first transgender woman to get legally married in Kolkata to her boyfriend Sanjay.
7. Bobby Darling aka Pakhi Sharma
Bobby Darling made her debut in the year 2001 with the movie Style and has featured in many Bollywood movies like Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, Chalte Chalte, Page 3, Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and Super Model among others. She reunited with her father after he appeared in TV show Sacch Ka Saamna. She married Bhopal based businessman Ramneek Sharma in 2016 and filed for divorce citing cheating, breach of trust, matrimonial cruelty and unnatural sex
8. Namitha Marimuthu
Namitha Marimuthu made her debut not only as an actress but also as a playback singer in Tamil film Nadodigal 2. She is the first Indian transgender represented India in Miss Trans Star International who has also featured in Bigg Boss Tamil Season 5.
9. Gauri Arora
Gauri Arora first appeared as Gaurav Arora, her former name, in MTV Splitsvilla. Before she changed his name, Gaurav was on the cover of IndiaĄ¯s leading men's fitness magazines
10. Aneesh Sheth
The Indian-American actress is also a transgender activist. Her first major acting role was in NBC sitcom Outsourced in which she played the role of Kami Sutra. She has also played the role of Gillian in the third and final season of Jessica Jones.
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Garima Satija leads the Entertainment vertical of Indiatimes. A storyteller at heart who enjoys the thrill of writing, she is sometimes found daydreaming about living the lives of movie characters. Also, she hates talking about herself in the third person.
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