Rainbow Rishta’s Daniela Mendonca on lack of transgender actors: ‘Cast me’ | web series
Teacher and transgender activist Daniela Mendonca argues that the community needs much more representation, not just in movies or shows, but in all areas of society, including the courts and parliament. Daniela stars in Prime Video’s new documentary series Rainbow Rishta and gets candid in her exclusive interview with Hindustan Times. He also talks about Sushmita Sen portraying a transgender character in Taali and Sushant Divgikar playing the role of Sky in Thank You For Coming. (Also Read| Rainbow Rishta trailer: Trinetra Haldar, Aishwarya Ayushmaan’s new docu-series celebrates 6 strange love stories)
Rainbow Rishta brings you happy LGBTQI+ stories
Speaking about why she chose to star in the documentary, Daniela said: “We believe that any movie or show that we’ve seen – they all show us in a certain light – they’re all like, ‘Oh my God, there’s queer people here or transgender people… they must be begging on the street, Or they have to become sex workers. We are very sorry.’ But did it make a difference? Did it make a difference in society? It still took us 150 years to remove Article 377. We literally have to demand our rights. NALSA’s decision to give transgender people the right to vote only came out in 2014. (So this narrative It didn’t help us at all).
He added, “After so many years, it took us 2023 to show our love stories. Showing bravery and happiness. Through this show I learned that the world will change with positive stories, we need to tell the world that we are human. We don’t care if you believe in LGBTQI+ or not. We’ll be happy and maybe this show won’t have an impact now, but ten years from now someone will say I watched this show and I got courage.”
“Coming out is a big decision, a privilege”
When asked what kind of support system is needed to deal with the problems they face, Daniela said: “Coming out is a big decision. It is not easy. There was never a speech for me. I was born and people knew. I got a lot of help from friends. I thought they were very sensitive. My school friends were the first to see my organs. People should come out when they are sure someone is there.
He added: “It’s a privilege to come out, it is. If I have enough money and I’m independent, then I can come out much easier than someone who doesn’t have that self-confidence. If I depend on my parents for my parents, going out becomes a problem. But, today we also have many NGOs and people can also contact me on social media. I will always put them in touch with doctors and other important links where they can find all kinds of support and help. I am happy to respond to every single message I receive on social media, even before this show. “
Daniela loves complex ideologies
Talking about the things that make her happy, Daniela said: “I love dressing up. I also love doing things the world told me I couldn’t do. It makes me happy to do it. They told me, “You can’t get married, you can’t buy a house, you can’t have a corporate job, you can’t have a normal family.” I’ve got it all, I’ve done it all. I try so hard to do things people tell me I can’t do because of my gender. “I love it when someone’s ideology is against my gender.”
Daniela on Sushmita Sen and Taali
Asked how she felt about Sushmita Sen being cast as a transgender in her latest serial Taali, Daniella said, “There will be two debates – one is that an actor’s job is to act and I agree with that. Then there will be people who will say the kind of publicity that Sushmita has brought, it would have been impossible for her to play the role of transgender Gauri Sawant and I agree. Both arguments are correct. “
He also said, “Talking about representation, I’m happy that Taal is telling a transgender story and it’s happening for the first time in mainstream cinema. I stand by Gauri Sawant who gave this story to the world to see. But, representation in our society is what we lack. I give it to Sushant Divgikar for playing the role of Sky in Thank You for Coming. Sushant is also a famous actor. Sushmita did a wonderful role in Taali and the cast included transgender people. I’m glad we had a transgender story and a happy ending. “
He added: “If you ask me, we want representation in all areas – in the corporate world, in the military, in the police, in parliament… we want to see a transgender neta someday. I always say “Humne dekhi sabki sarkar, ab ek baar dedo kinaron ko baar” (we have seen everyone’s government, now give transgenders a chance). We want to be in the parliament, we want to be everywhere we haven’t seen. For example, we’ve mostly seen straight and straight people leading crews and participating on set. This (Rainbow Rishta) was probably the first project where everyone from the director to the crew was LGBTQI+ involved.”
When the Rainbow Rishta crew stopped firing, they hugged Daniela
Daniela then recalled a time when filming had to be stopped in the middle of a scene. “There is a scene in Rainbow Rishta where I talk about my past while eating ice cream. It had to stop halfway through when I started crying. The whole group left the camera, they said “stop, we’re not taking this”. And the whole crew came and stood around me. They hugged me tightly, I was suffocating. They were saying, “Well, we’re not going to shoot until you’re comfortable.” It was possible because Joydeep and Radhika were there and they understand. If someone says to me “I don’t know a transgender actor”, (I’d tell them) honey, do it for me! And if we don’t engage in all areas, you’re missing out on making a better person and a better world. We are happy in our world. “
Have fun! Have fun! Have fun! 🎞️🍿💃 Click Follow Our Whatsapp Channel 📲 Your Daily Updates of Gossip, Movies, Shows, Celebrities All in One Place
