Gauri Sawant on Sushmita Sen's 'Taali': 'What a proud moment for all of us that Miss Universe is playing us on-screen'

Shreegauri Sawant’s struggles and fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ have been portrayed recently in the film Taali that stars Sushmita Sen in the lead role as Sawant. Speaking to India Times, Sawant spoke about meeting the actress, what she thought of the film, and the harsh realities of her community.

On meeting Sen

When I was told that Sushmita Sen is playing me in my biopic, I was very happy. I was thinking that they’ll rope in a male actor but the makers changed the entire dynamic and what a move it was. Every transgender person is beautiful and what a proud moment it is for all of us that Miss Universe is playing us on-screen. Sushmita and my life’s story resonate beautifully. She has also adopted two kids and I too have so many who I take care of. Her life was also filled with struggles and mine too. When I was called to meet Sushmita for the first time, I was very nervous but within 30 minutes of talking to her, I fell in love with the kind of person she is.

She added, “I will talk about my biopic then Taali makers honestly wanted to rope in a trans actor but they couldn’t find a good artist to lead. If there was a star kid who was trans then maybe they could have been signed for this. But other than Sushmita, several other trans individuals have been cast to play other small characters.”

On their representation

In my Vicks ad, there was no drawing around my character, no dialogue yet I was shown in such a good light. I remember one scene where Ritesh Deshmukh kisses a person and when he finds out that they are not a woman, he digs his face in a commode. What nonsense was that?

On the LGBTQ community

Many don’t know but the transgender community is very violent. It’s not what you see from the outside. They don’t allow us to follow our religion. They chop our wings to fly, they try to blur our existence. It’s very bad here.