TRANS REPRESENTATION

IN INDIAN CINEMA
JEMIMAH CHRYSOLITE. I
20BDE28
SECTION C
INTRODUCTION
• Humans are innately social beings who live in groups and consider
interactions an integral part of their everyday lives. They listen to the
thoughts, opinions and ideals of others around them and that, more often
than not, shapes the way they think as well.
• Apart from fellow human beings, another element which does (or at least
tries to) influence their thinking is media – whether that is broadcast
media, print media or various forms of new media that keep emerging.
There are divided opinions on the extent to which media is able to
influence people.
• While there are those advocating the Hypodermic needle theory of media,
there are lots who support the limited effects of media theories like Paul
Lazarsfeld’s two-step flow theory, for instance.
INTRODUCTION
• However, irrespective of which theory people believe in, the agenda-
setting theory of media still largely holds true.
• Through the narratives they choose to convey and bring to the consumers
of their content, the media is telling them what to think about and
sometimes end up telling them how to think of it as well.
• This is where narratives, their representations and portrayals become
crucial especially when it comes to creative texts.
• Be it books, plays or movies, any creative fictional piece gives the author
of the text the liberty to portray a person, a community or even a country
in a certain way, claiming artistic freedom. Such representations gain
more importance when dealing with marginalized, oppressed or largely
stereotyped communities. 
INTRODUCTION
• One such community is the transgender community. Despite a
lot more people choosing to openly discuss gender identity,
gender expression, gender non-conformity and other related
issues like non-binary identities and sexual orientation these
days, the transgender community continues to remain a
marginalized section of the society in a lot of countries.
• Thus, the way the transgender population is represented in
films (a mass media vehicle still loved and supported by
millions of people worldwide) becomes crucial.
REPRESENTATION AND WHY IT MATTERS:

• Representation is defined as the “the description or portrayal of someone

or something in a particular way”. Such representation paves the way for
people in a society to get to know groups or communities that they might
not interact with or have previous knowledge about. Hence, such
representation of any group becomes significant.
• Merriam Webster defines a transgender or a trans person as “a person
whose gender identity differs from the sex the person had or was
identified as having at birth.” Thus this definition includes trans men
(female-to-male) as well as trans women (male-to-female).  Various studies
have tried to find the number of transgender people across different
countries. The Pakistan government decided to include the country’s
transgender population in the census for the first time this year, allowing
people to self-identify themselves
REPRESENTATION AND WHY IT MATTERS:

• Closer home, India legally recognized transgender as the third gender in a

landmark judgment in 2014. Following this, there was a census conducted
during which 4.9 lakh people identified themselves as belonging to the
third gender.
• Activists however claim that the numbers are grossly underestimated and
that the real numbers would be six to seven times higher.
• This is evidenced by the fact that another report claims there are around 2
million people in India who are part of the hijra community (transgender
people in South Asia) which is significantly higher than the numbers
reported in the census as stated above.
• From these statistics, it is easy to understand that India is home to a lot of
trans people (transgender people). This makes it very important to
represent them in the right way in mass media vehicles like movies which
are watched by people nationally as well as internationally.
OBJECTIVES

• To understand how Indian movies portray the transgender

community by taking a few samples as case studies and
dissecting/analyzing them.
• 2.    To see what people from the transgender community and
those working with the community think about such portrayals.
• 3.    To study the impact of such representation in movies and
why it matters in a social con
NEED FOR STUDY AND METHODOLOGY ADOPTED:

• According to George Gerbner’s cultivation theory which studies the effects of television,
continuous or heavy television watching can have long-term impacts on people and lead
them to believe that the portrayal on television is the actual social reality.
• This theory can be applied to film viewing as well, which is why portrayal of
communities in films need to be analyzed. Further, though there is research done and
papers written about portrayal of transgender people or LGBT representation in cinema
on a global level or in Indian movies, there is hardly any explanatory research or
otherwise that focuses specifically on such portrayal in Tamil movies.
• Hence, there is a need to study this further. In order to understand these portrayals
better, this paper will use qualitative methods by taking a few movies as case studies and
critically analyzing the portrayal of trans people in them. Further, a few relevant people
will be interviewed to understand what their views are on the portrayal and
representation of the transgender community in Tamil films.
BOLLYWOOD DISAPPOINTS BUT SOUTH
INDIAN FILMS BRING RAYS OF HOPE
• Most Hindi films still thrive on the offensive
and stereotypical portrayal of the non-binary
gender characters, the past decade has seen
some applause-worthy trans representation in
regional movies, especially south Indian films.
 BOLLYWOOD DISAPPOINTS BUT SOUTH
INDIAN FILMS BRING RAYS OF HOPE

“Actor Akshay Kumar’s latest film Laxmii, released in November 2020 is a horror-

comedy that is neither scary nor funny. However, that alone isn’t the reason why it
has found itself at the bottom of the IMDB rating scale. What makes it an
unbearable watch is the way in which it peddles blatant gender stereotypes and uses
physical comedy to show a transgender spirit trapped in a cisgender man’s body,”
explains Anupam Kant, a Delhi based film critic.
Despite masquerading as a film that tells the story of a transwoman, Kant says, one
finds a terrible misrepresentation of the trans community in it. Unfortunately, it is an
only new addition to the long list of Indian films that have misrepresented the trans
community.
BOLLYWOOD DISAPPOINTS BUT SOUTH
INDIAN FILMS BRING RAYS OF HOPE

• “As an Indian kid and a keen lover of mainstream cinema growing up in the late 1990s and
2000s was a perplexing time – because the pop culture I consumed gave me some warped
ideas of gender and sexuality,” Rahul Das, a 26-year-old Delhi-based transgender model
tells Media India Group.
• Das says that Indian cinema, especially Hindi cinema, has not had the best record in terms of
gender and sexuality. From blatant sexual objectification to glorifying stalking and harassment, 
Bollywood has treated women abominably; but, it didn’t stop just at cis women. When it comes
to the transgender or hijra communities, the industry has fared even worse.
TRANSGENDERS IN BOLLYWOOD – TERRIFYING
VILLAINS

• “One of my most vivid memories surrounding Bollywood as a kid is being utterly terrified, to
the point of having nightmares, by the character of Lajja Shankar Pandey from the
film Sangharsh (1999),” says Das.
• The character Das refers to was of a transwoman who was a Kali (Hindu Goddess) worshipper
and was played by Ashutosh Rana. The trans character in the film abducted little children and
sacrificed & cannibalised them at Kali’s altar. “Watching the film at the tender age of 10, my
horror obviously stemmed from the whole scary-child-murderer aspect of the character, but as
I slowly grew up and watched a lot more Bollywood, I realised that this part of a larger problem;
a larger systematic horror,” adds Das.
• In most Bollywood films featuring a transgender person even in a minor role, two disturbing
polarities of representation find their way. Either the trans person is a horrifying villain or the
worst kind of comic stereotype, with offensive transphobic humour directed at them.
TRANSGENDERS IN BOLLYWOOD – TERRIFYING
VILLAINS

• “There is a sustained othering which takes place here, where the trans person is constantly seen as
outside the bounds of ‘normal’ – as a sexual predator, a child molester, or someone who is out to prey on
or deceive the unsuspecting (cis) hero or heroine,” says Das.
• Even the critically celebrated film like Mahesh Bhatt’s Sadak (1991) has one of the most jarringly violent
depictions of a transwoman in the character of Maharani (queen), played by Sadashiv Amrapurkar.
Maharani’s function in the plot is, again, to be the villain depicted as an evil brothel owner who tortures
and traffics young women.
• Das further explains that in a film where the trans character gets so much screen time, there is a constant
reiteration of the worst kind of harmful myths and tropes associated with the trans community ultimately
creating a stereotype in Indian mainstream culture which became hard to shake off.
• Taking off from this, countless other films both big and small, played on this trope of the evil-trans-
brothel-owner-or-villain, like in 2011 film Murder 2.
 SOUTH INDIAN BEACONS FOR TRANS
REPRESENTATION

• Das says that though the mainstream Hindi cinema or Bollywood has done more harm than good to the trans
community, some regional south Indian films have tried to break the mould of trans stereotypes in India.
• Super Deluxe, a 2019 Tamil film, is a thought-provoking assemblage of four different stories that intertwine on one
fateful day. One of the big blockbusters of 2019, the film was noteworthy for its sensitive sketch of a transgender
character Shilpa played by Vijay Sethupathy. Whilst highlighting the hardships and stereotypes that the 
transgender community faces, the director succeeds in presenting Shilpa with inherent dignity and nobility that the
character deserves, never once stooping into caricatured assumptions.
SOUTH INDIAN BEACONS FOR TRANS
REPRESENTATION
SOUTH INDIAN BEACONS FOR TRANS
REPRESENTATION

• Another film that makes a case for gender diversity and equality is the Malayalam film Njan
Mary Kutti (2018). Actor Jayasuriya in the titular role plays a transsexual man harbouring wishes
to join the police force but struggles with the acceptance of his identity and is a victim of cruel
discrimination associated with his orientation. The film was lauded for creating believable
characters and going above the conventional taboos set by society.
• Unimpressed with the overall scenario of the trans community in Indian cinema, film critic Kant
says “If many south Indian films can correct themselves in trans representation, so can
mainstream filmmakers. Filmmakers hold supreme responsibility in being sensitive, empathetic
and rational while attempting to make films on the said theme. And as complex as it may seem,
the underlying principles of treating people respectfully and equally is a no-brainer and requires
no special education,” he adds.
UNDERAPPRECIATED BUT NOTABLE TRANS
CHARACTERS IN HINDI CINEMA

• There are some positive representations, even if they are extremely few and far between.
• The 1997 film Tamanna had a complex portrayal of a transwoman, played by Paresh Rawal, who
finds an abandoned girl child and raises her as her own. Though heavy-handed in places, it
deftly tackles both transgender issues (such as discrimination, misgendering, violence against
the trans community) as well as female infanticide.
UNDERAPPRECIATED BUT NOTABLE TRANS
CHARACTERS IN HINDI CINEMA

• Daayra (1996) is another film which deals with gender-fluidity in interesting ways. It depicts a
transsexual character who forms a close relationship with a young girl who takes on a male
identity (in other words, who is gender-fluid).
• However, these films barely got any mainstream attention and failed at the box office.
SHALLOW & RIDICULOUS COMIC RELIEF

• Bollywood comedies, trans characters face similarly horrific treatment. Very often trans people
are seen to be preying on the hero sexually or turned into exaggerated effeminate caricatures
who exist to elicit laughs.
• “When the transwomen characters do rarely attract the attention of the hero, he is ultimately
repulsed once he discovers that the trans woman in question is not an ‘actual woman’ and finds
himself ‘deceived’ – a form of transphobic hate that trans people go through very often in their
real lives,” Das adds.
SHALLOW & RIDICULOUS COMIC RELIEF

• While films like Kya Kool Hain Hum series (2016), Partner (2007), Masti (2004) and many more
not only feature such horrific stereotypes of trans women as sexual predators but also makes
them a laughing stock on being discovered as a trans person.
• “What follows the ‘coming out of the closet’ in Hindi films, is going into an immediate panic,
and nearly fleeing the scene. Trans characters’ presence is depicted as if the very sight of them
is abnormal,” Das explains.
ANALYSES OF A FEW TAMIL MOVIES AND THEIR PORTRAYAL OF THE TRANSGENDER
COMMUNITY

• Movies with characters like that of Vaiyapuri’s in ThulladhaManamumThullum(1999)

directed by Ezhil make fun of a male showing signs of being effeminate and is mocked
even by their own friends.  A lot of such subtleties are not given enough importance
while drafting the screenplay or during the characterization of the roles in movies. 
• Sarath Kumar essayed the role of a transgender called Kanchana in Muni 2:
Kanchana (2011) which was a crucial role in the horror film. Directed by Raghava
Lawrence, the role was that of a transgender who gets ousted by her biological family
but gets accepted by someone else for who she was and later gets killed by a villain. It
brought out the difficulties faced by a lot of people in the trans community but ended
on a positive note, portraying Sarath Kumar in a good role. The role, as well as Sarath
Kumar’s portrayal, were widely appreciated.
• Many consider Kamal Haasan’s role in Vishwaroopam(2013) to be that of a trans
person. However, he merely played a man who had effeminate characteristics and that
does not necessarily make one a transgender. In the film, Haasan is rejected by his wife
early on in the movie for his effeminate nature but once she finds out about his macho
 ANALYSES OF A FEW TAMIL MOVIES AND THEIR
PORTRAYAL OF THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

•Another major problem with all of the examples stated above is the fact that none of the roles were essayed by an
actual trans person.
•They were all cisgendered, which in itself lacks an authenticity that can only be lent by trans people themselves.
Having said that, there are a few exceptions, including positive portrayals and the role being played by a trans person
themselves.
•This includes movies like Narthagi(2011) written and directed by Vijayapadma, Paal (2008) which was directed by D
Sivakumar and Appa (2016) which was helmed by Samuthirakani. Narthagicaptures the struggles and life of a
transgender through the protagonist’s jourpraise
•The protagonist was played by a trans person as well. The movie answered quite a few questions that the cisgender
crowd usually has about the third gender and hence the director, Vijaya Padma’s efforts were praised.
• However, there was criticism that the movie focused a bit too much on a sympathetic angle, while an empathetic
angle might have been better to normalize their position in the society.
• In Appa, there is a scene where one of the lead child artistes gets lost but is later found to be safeguarded by a trans
woman who ensures the child gets back together with his father. A small, but powerful scene ensues when the child’s
father thanks the trans woman with folded hands.
CONCLUSION
• portrayal of trans people in Indian movies, we understand that there is a definite need for
filmmakers to get sensitized about the community and understand the impact movies have on
people’s perception before they get down to scripting or directing movies. Further, while
movies like Boys Don’t Cry (1999) directed by Kimberly Peirce talk about trans men, Tamil
movies largely ignore them despite the fact that they come under the transgender community.
The portrayal of such gender or sexual minorities can be understood better by studying the
directors of such movies to understand why they write/direct such roles in a certain way and
by taking a lot more samples over a larger period of time, which could not be done in this
paper due to time constraints. The scope of this study can also be extended to Indian films in
the LGBTIQA+ space (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/questioning,
Agender) for a broader, thorough understanding of the portrayal of minorities. Though
portrayals are slowly becoming more sensitive, filmmakers still have a long way to go. They
should understand the power and responsibility that comes with being able to impact and
influence mass audiences in a society like ours and live up to the same by doing justice to any
community they write or talk about.
•  
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