Sushant Divgikr On Their 'Ground-breaking' Bollywood Debut: 'It's A Big Banner' | Exclusive

2023 began with a bang for drag icon Sushant Divgikr, who is popularly known as Rani Ko-HE-nur. In January, they became the first drag queen to represent India at Dragcon in the UK. A month later, they were a part of the panel in the India Conference at the prestigious Harvard University to speak about the transgender community. But Sushant has another reason to celebrate as they will be marking their big Bollywood debut this year.

As we celebrate the Pride Month, Sushant exclusively revealed to News18 that they are confident that their character in the film will blaze the trail and defy the age-old stereotypes surrounding transgender roles. Without divulging details, they told us, “All I can say is that it’s going to be very ground-breaking because you’ve never seen a transgender person play a character like this ever. It’s a big banner. I’m hoping it changes people’s perspectives as to how they look at us as artists.”

Sushant, who was also a part of Bigg Boss 8, shared that they have been approached for films in the past as well. However, for them, the idea was to set the right kind of precedent with their choices. “I did get offers but if I’m going to play the characters that I got afraid to be referred to as while growing up, then activism makes no sense. I don’t want to just run my house by spoiling so many kids’ lives, which happened to me and so many of my sisters,” said Sushant, who has lent their voice to the androgynous character of Cora in Marvel’s Wastelanders’s Star-Lord co-starring Saif Ali Khan.

A post shared by Sushant Divgikr/ Rani KoHEnur (@sushantdivgikr)

While Sushant acknowledged that movies also mean a lot of money, it was and is never as important as making a statement towards inclusivity and progress. “We’ve been portrayed in such a bad light in the 1980s and the 2000s and if we do the same thing now and play the same parts, then how did we even make progress? I know I’ll be paid but I can earn that money by dancing too. I urge people to help us do good work. So, I had to say no to those offers,” they remarked.

But did waiting for the right character to make their Bollywood debut with ever make them impatient? “It’s said that good things take time and it took a lot of time. I see wrinkles on my face that make me go, ‘Wow, time has really passed, man!’ But I don’t want to put any injections (laughs). However, I like the fact that this transition is very beautiful and every step of the way, I’m learning something new about me as well as life in general. We’ll definitely get there but it will take some time. Now, it’s happening in front of us,” stated Sushant candidly.