Actor Sushmita Sen has once again impressed her fans with a new character and she even shared the first look of her upcoming web series Taali on Thursday.
For the uninitiated, Taali is a biopic of transwoman Gauri Sawant, and Sen will be depicting her life through this movie. The first poster of Taali featured Sushmita Sen in the look of Gauri Sawant as she wore a red green saree with a big round maroon bindi on her forehead.
Previously, Gauri Sawant was seen on Kaun Banega Crorepati season 9 and was supported by Usha Uthup to raise money to build houses for sex workers.
Sharing the poster, Sushmita mentioned that she was ‘proud and privileged’ to bring Sawant’s story to the screen. She wrote: “Nothing makes me prouder & more grateful than to have the privilege of portraying this beautiful person & of bringing her story to the world!! Here’s to life & to everyone’s right to live it with dignity!!! I love you guys!!! #duggadugga.”
Sushmita captioned the post, “Taali - बजाऊँगी नहीं, बजवाऊँगी ! (won't clap, will ask others to clap). Nothing makes me prouder & more grateful than to have the privilege of portraying this beautiful person & of bringing her story to the world!!” by referring to Gauri Sawant.
She further added, “Here’s to life & to everyone’s right to live it with dignity!!! (hand folded emoji) I love you guys!!! #duggadugga.” She used the hashtags #firstlook as #ShreegauriSawant on it.
Reacting to the same, her actor and sister-in-law Charu Asopa wrote, “Wowww… First look is awesome.. so proud of you didi. looking forward …love you didi.”
However, the poster witnessed a mixed reaction from the audience. While Sushmita Sen’s fans applauded her, a few netizens wondered why an actual transgender wasn’t cast as Gauri Sawant.
One of her fans commented, “you just nailed the look.” Another fan wrote, “Oh my god!! More power to you always.” Many fans showed excitement and dropped heart emojis for her new project.
On the other hand, a section of users maintained, “I think it's high time now, transwomen should also be given a chance to perform... instead of taking a female actor a transgender person should perform this role”.
Another wrote, “I can literally offer a long list of transgender actors who have done exemplary work. But well...what can one expect from Bollywood?”
For the unversed, Gauri Sawant is a transgender activist from Mumbai and she has even featured in Vicks's ad as a transgender mother who raised an orphaned girl to break the stereotypical representation of the third gender.
She even raised money to build houses for sex workers near Kharghar with the amount she won with the help of Kaun Banega Crorepati in season 9.
Image Source: Instagram