Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma, who will be playing a transsexual person in her latest short film A Monsoon Date believes that someone from the same community should have essayed her character. However, she is hopeful if stories such as these start coming out, they can encourage LGBTQ people to pursue acting as a career.
Written by Gazal Dhaliwal, A Monsoon Date is directed by Tanuja Chandra and chronicles the story of a young woman who is about to reveal a heart-breaking truth about her past to the man she's dating.
At the premiere of the short film at the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, Konkona said, "Ideally, the person playing this character should've been a transsexual person. It would have been nice to have an LGBTQ person as the actor for the part. It's unfortunate that that isn't the case. However I feel if we start telling these stories, then that will also happen sooner rather than later," she said.
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The actor said it is important for people to be more inclusive and tell stories of everyone."Everybody faces loneliness, heartbreaks. It's just that some people's loneliness and heartbreaks are highlighted more. We need to tell these stories so that it can be incorporated and we can be more inclusive in the future," she said.
At the screening of the film, which is presented by Eros Now, Chandra said the number of transsexual actors is very small. "Once you get these stories out there, maybe, hopefully, there will be a large number soon. One obviously wants to cast an actor who is really good. You don't just want to have the right kind of person but who's also good enough in terms of performance," the director said.
Gazal, who has worked on films like Qarib Qarib Single, Lipstick Under My Burkha and Wazir, said the story is inspired from her own life. "I happen to be someone like this. You see a boy and it's hard to connect him as a grown-up woman. If you were to see my childhood pictures, you'd feel like that. It is the reality of a trans person. When we go through a transition, that's how it is. My childhood pictures will throw you off. I've been through this transition," she said.
(With IANS inputs)
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