Ayushmann Recalls How He Reacted When He First Came To Know About The Trans Community

On Dec 18, 2021

Ayushmann Khurrana always picks movies that get the conversation going about topics that are often brushed under the carpet, ignored or avoided.

Be it erectile dysfunction in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan or old age pregnancy in Badhai Ho.

His latest one Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui touches upon the struggles of the transgender community which often go unaddressed and unnoticed by Indian society.

In the movie, he plays a bodybuilder who falls in love with a zumba teacher, who he later finds out is a trans woman. He is dejected and upset with her for lying and behaves in a classic way that most people do. There is much ignorance and unawareness regarding trans people in India which results in people shunning them, disrespecting them and what not.

Ayushmann recently recalled how he himself reacted when he first came to know about the trans community and how he grew to be more empathetic. He said, “Though I belong to a conservative family, my parents were progressive. In the mid-90s, there were two girls in a hostel, who came to my father. One of them wanted to undergo this operation and become a guy.”

He said his father told them to go to a gynaecologist who shunned them for ‘going against nature’. After which, he suggested they go to a bigger city like Mumbai and get the operation done. “Now they have been married for the last 20-25 odd years,” he added.

He said he was surprised and couldn’t believe it. “So, I knew about the trans community when I was 13. It was a great induction for me. Though I was also shocked ki aise thode hi hota hai papa (That’s now how things are),” he said honestly and added, “My father also didn’t know that there would be an operation and it would be successful. That was the first eye-opener for me that this community exists and thinks this way.”

He said he has become more empathetic than he was before and even then he acknowledged their struggles. “Empathy was always there since childhood. But it takes time. We have grown a lot. We are learning every day,” he said.