Sushmita Sen is preparing for her highly anticipated project ‘Taali’, where she will be tackling the role of a transgender. The former Miss Universe will be portraying the transgender activist Shreegauri Sawant, and the series will shed light on Sawant’s struggles in gaining recognition as the third gender in India. In a recent interview with Midday, Sushmita shared her insights on preparing for the character and disclosed some fascinating details.
She mentioned, “I had to portray a man named Ganesh, and then transform into Gauri. While shooting the male portions, I would bind my chest and wear a protective garment to physically separate my legs. I also had to gain weight to achieve a more masculine physique. The mannerisms had to be distinct.” She further added, “We had to dub those scenes separately. During dubbing, I had to lower the pitch of my voice. Interestingly, the worse my throat felt, the better it sounded.” Sushmita also revealed that over 70% of the crew consisted of transgenders and stated, “The transgenders on set guided us on what was right and wrong. Our director was clear that we might make mistakes in terms of on-screen representation.
So, whenever we went astray, they would tell us to ‘stop’ and we would follow their guidance.” Recently, the teaser for ‘Taali’ was released, and the series will be available for streaming on an OTT platform on August 15.