The Trans Lens

While films about transgender lives are garnering audiences, queer and transgender filmmakers and thespians weigh in on why representation may not always mean inclusion

- Rakhi Bose

ABOUT 400 years ago, in the Virudhunagar region of southern Tamil Nadu, there lived a transgender warrior by the name of Arikandi, who is said to have valiantly fought with the army of a king—Kangapuram Jamin—to protect the life of a princess, the daughter of Mangalapuram Jamin. 

History has a tendency to be biased towards its writers. And since transgender persons did not write history, Arikandi’s story was not recorded in books or taught in schools.

Yet, the story lived on for 400 years in the collective memory of locals and was shared verbally within the traditional transgender communities until, in the 21st century, it travelled 60 kilometres to Madurai and ended up with Priyababu. 

A transgender activist, educationist and social worker, Priyababu was stunned by Arikandi’s story. But she was even more shocked to realise that only a handful of people knew about her. 

“When we think about transgender persons or hijras in India, we think about beggars and sex workers. We think of transgender people as helpless victims. But Arikandi was a warrior, a strong and powerful person, an inspirational character. I wanted to tell this story to the world. So I decided to make a film about it,” says Priyababu. And thus began the year-long journey to research Arikandi.