Gauri Sawant considers the upcoming movie, Taali, in which actor Sushmita Sen will portray the life of the noted transgender activist, to be a huge victory for the trans community as a whole. She doesn’t want to focus on the few rumblings that claim a member of the community ought to have been chosen for this role.

“One should think about how challenging it will be for a woman of such stature to take on a role that comes with a lot of taboos. She (Sushmita) has shown courage by taking this up. And she was my first choice,” says Sawant, adding, “Let her (Sushmita) play that role. Hum koi aur role kar lenge. My message to all is, kisi ko restrict mat karo kisi role ke liye. I’d be interested in playing (late politician) Sushma Swaraj on screen if her biopic is ever made. Why should we be restricted to just trans people’s roles? We need to break barriers.” 

As per the activist, watching a woman embody the nuances of a trans person, not a man, is another great victory. “Most of us wanted to be women, and that is the reason we decided to wear a saree. It is now a mark of respect for us that a female actor is playing the role, instead of a male actor, something that has happened a lot in the past,” Sawant says, revealing that Sen worked extensively with her for this project. 

Sawant adds, “There are many transgender actors who will be seen in the project, who were picked after a thorough audition process. I am also attached to this, not as an actor, but in other ways. So, it is not that Sushmita is the only one acting here.”