Will Ayushman Do Justice to the Transgender Role?



Ayushman Deshraj Joshi surprised and shocked his fans at all once on Monday night. He surprised them by declaring he is going to do a transgender role with the posts on his social media. Then with the same post, he shocked his fans with the nudity. Oh ya! you heard it right. He was faulting a bare body in of the post just have a look!

According to the post description, he is going to do a series based on Danish artist Gerda Wegener and Einar Wegener named The Metamorphic Manifesto. The Hollywood movie The Danish Girl, based on their story was already a hit that was released in 2015. 

  He is going to play the role of Einar Wegener who did the first-ever documented sex reassignment surgery and popularly known as Lili Elbie afterward. Gerda Wegener is played by Krishnaa.

The post reads, "The Metamorphic Manifesto is an attempt to tell a story of the first man in history to undergo surgery to become a woman. This series is the Nepalese adaptation of the remarkable lives of Danish artists, Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. When a wife asks her husband to pose as a female model for her painting, it triggers the suppressed identification in him and this series navigates his groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer."

The pictures he has posted reveal his aristocratic as well as feminine sides for the series. The man being projected as a female model to his wife eventually identifies his gender. Seems like the story of the series will present the side of androgynous male as well. The series includes his brother and well-known actor Aasirman who is seen to caressing another character makes an observant feel the series includes an androgynous side of a man. The man on the mirror holding his body symbolizes an oblivious stage of gender identification. The man undergoing the process of treatment is seen pale but his eyes ambivalent. It will be interesting to find out the inner psychic in the series. Through the pictures, we can see the acceptability of gender roles inherit by the characters. The pain and happiness of the character's journey are presented in a promising way. The photographed form of revelation excites the audience to watch it. Sanjog Rai is a mind behind it. The posted photographs have revealed a little and a lot to be revealed factors that keep the audience speculate and wait. 

In the context of Nepal, the artistic representation of the inner psychic and bare body in a representational art like series is rare. I believe at first, it is going to be a major source of amusement and then it will be instrumental to spread awareness about gender roles and sexual preferences of individuals in Nepal. 

Ayushman says that the project is close to his heart. Despite it being a grandeur opportunity for the artists and makers, the matter of self-exploration and finding their own identity in the presence of a bare body is a rare subject in Nepal. So he urges the audience to see with more than just the eyes. As of now, the attempt has been admired by so many and we need to wait to for the real review of cinematic representation of the art named The Metamorphic Manifesto

"A project I hold close to my heart as it never felt like work and for the fact that I am a believer that Love between two hearts is beyond what gender you were brought into this world as, that too without a choice of your own. I understand that many of us may feel queasy to scroll through the carousel of pictures since it may not abide by the social norms we live by but I urge you to see this with more than just your eyes. Try to understand what so many people have gone through with no fault of theirs. This is a story about the struggles of not men, not women but human beings. A human’s endeavor to finding themselves that is completely in their right to do so." 

The series is the effort of Sukriti Yaktumba, Aakash Rajbhandari, Riteshraj Gurung, Sanjog Rai, KrishaaAashirman and Aushman Deshraj Joshi.



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