Sushmita Sen, Akshay Kumar, Vijay Raaz: Bollywood actors who aced the role of a transgender on screen

Transgenders have been a part of our society since time immemorial. They have also found a place in our films where their portrayal has changed significantly over the years. Sushmita Sen will soon be seen essaying the role of a transgender activist Gauri Sawant in an upcoming film, 'Taali'. Ahead of this, we take a look at some memorable transgender roles played by actors in Bollywood films over the years.

Sushmita will be seen essaying the role of transgender activist Gauri Sawant in 'Taali'. Gauri, the founder of Sakhi Char Chaughi Trust, works towards promoting safe sex and counseling for transgender individuals in Mumbai. Gauri's remarkable journey started when she had to leave her family as Ganesh Sawant and came to Bombay. Sushmita Sen had earlier expressed her pride in portraying Gauri Sawant's inspiring journey onscreen and highlighted the importance of living with dignity. Directed by Ravi Jadhav, the series is currently in production. The web series also stars Ankur Bhatia, Aishwarya Narkar, Krutika Deo and Hemangi Kavi.

Read Also: ‘Main Taali bajaati nahi bajwati hoon!’, Sushmita Sen ups excitement bar in new promo of her upcoming series ‘Taali’

Akshay is one actor in Bollywood who never has never shied away from challenging and entertaining roles. He surprised one and all when he donned the character of a transgender for his film, 'Laxmii'. Dressed in a red saree and a sound red bindi on his forehead, Akshay enthralled the audience with his performance. The film was an official remake of Raghava Lawrence’s super hit Tamil film Muni 2: Kanchana'. The film also starred Sharad Kelkar in the role of transgender.

Alia Bhatt impressed one and all with her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'. The actress played the role of a mafia queen in Mumbai. However, apart from her, the one who grabbed eyeballs for his performance in the film is none other than Vijay Raaz. The actor played the role of a transgender named Raziabai. While some raised questions as to why a transgender person was not cast for the role, others hailed the casting of Vijay Raaz as the right choice.

Ashutosh Rana is undoubtedly one of the most talented actors we have in Bollywood. The ace actor has numerous memorable roles to his credit and one such role is that of the transgender Lajja Shankar Pandey in 'Sangharsh'. In the film, his character was seen kidnapping children and sacrificing them to become immortal. The other time he played a eunuch to the hilt was as the main lead in Shabnam Mausi, a biopic which was based on Shabnam Mausi Bano who was the first transgender Indian to be elected as MLA to the Madhya Pradesh state legislative assembly from 1998 to 2003.

Sadashiv Amrapurkar garnered immense praise from the audience and the critics alike for his portrayal of 'Maharani', an evil transgender madam running a brothel. His convincing act sent a chill down the spine of the audiences in the theatres. The actor also won the Best Villain’ Filmfare trophy for his memorable act.