Curated for Pride Library, University of Western Ontorio, Canada
Copyright Sridhar Rangayan, 2009
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DISCLAIMER: All interpretations and readings is by the author. All the images and videos on this site have been used only for reference, collated from sources on the internet.
CREDITS
Title: Shabnam Mousi
English Title: Shabnam, the Eunuch Aunt
Year: 2005
Language: Hindi
Genre: Feature / Popular Entertainer
Director: Yogesh Bharadwaj
SYNOPSIS
Based on the life of Indian eunuch Shabnam Mousi, the film follows Shabnam from birth to underdog success as a reformist political candidate, and how Shabnam leaves the eunuch clan in search of self-respect and awakens the conscience of a village.
QUEER NOTES
The film is based on real life story and incidents, but presented in a commercial format. Some of the noteworthy scenes are : the sequence in the police station, soon after Shabnam is accused of murdering her disciple; the disciple's cremation, local goons attempting to rape Shabnam in front of the entire village, but she overpowering them and the final confrontation between Shabnam and her political rival.19
Shabnam is the first transgender Indian or hijra to be elected to public office. She was an elected member of the Madhya Pradesh State Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2003. (Hijras were granted voting rights in 1994 in India.)
ACTOR/S IN QUEER ROLE
Ashutosh Rana as Shabnam Mousi (eunuch)
Vijay Raaz as Halima (eunuch)
LINKS
Imdb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0459133/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadak
queer portrayals in Indian films