Transvestite: This term was coined by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1915 to describe a person who habitually and voluntarily wears clothes of the opposite sex. Over a period of time, the general awareness about sexuality has increased and the definition of the term has undergone some change.
Sexual arousal can be broadly classified in a spectrum ranging from asexuality, heterosexuality, homosexuality to bisexuality. Lack of awareness on the nuances about sexuality leads to a generalization about homosexuals, painting eunuchs, transvestites, gays and bisexuals with the same brush.
For the greenhorns, this is a rough definition of the categories:
Bisexual: Someone who gets aroused by the same as well as opposite gender
Homosexual: Someone who gets aroused by only the same gender
Transvestite/ crossdresser: Someone who is born as one gender but wants to become the other
Eunuch: Someone who has been either born as a male but has been castrated, or born without clearly defined sexual organs.
In the case of the first three categories, there could be further sub-divisions. For instance, someone could be homosexual or bisexual in his mental make-up, but does not practice it for various reasons. At the other extreme is someone who is outwardly blatant about his sexual preference.
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One such case is that of Pankaj Sharma, a boy from Delhi. Born a man, Pankaj always knew that he was a woman inside a man’s body. After a lot of introspection, he realized his predicament. As a teenager, he eloped with a lover, Nony, toured many countries and survived doing odd jobs. But the relationship broke and Pankaj was back home. His parents tried to “cure” him and took him to various sexologists. But after his mother died, Pankaj decided to carve out his own path and moved to Mumbai.
The initial period was full of struggle and he had to even dance in bars to make ends meet. Determined to make it big, Pankaj came to Bollywood and assumed the screen name “Bobby Darling”.
In a span of five years, Bobby Darling has made his presence felt in many notable appearances in films like Taal, Style, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Maine Dil Tujhko Diya, Stumped, Chalte Chalte, Valentines Day, Fun2shh, Tum, Page 3 and Kya Kool Hain Hum. He has also been seen briefly in TV serials like Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kittie Party, Kahin To Milenge, Kahin Kissi Roz, Kyon Hota Hai Pyar, Hum Paanch, Professor Pyarelal and Kitne Kool Hain Hum.
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I’m confused!
Well, not confused like Pankaj Sharma about his sexuality. But confused about whether to rate this actor high or low.
Thankfully, the term “Actor” today is asexual. Even Shabana Azmi calls herself an “actor”. So, I need not have any apprehensions about referring to the subject under review by any other term.
There are positives and there are negatives.
“Man enough’’ to admit it
What is admirable about Pankaj Sharma is the fearlessness with which he declares his sexuality openly. There are lakhs of closet gays in this world, many probably members on this site too, but how many of us would dare to declare it to the world?
Without any Godfathers in the industry, he has been able to make a significant presence on the movie scene. His pivotal role in Balaji’s latest hit “Kya Kool Hain Hum” is a testimony to his success.
He has a perfect sense of timing which comes in handy in comic sequences.
Dressed garishly as a drag queen, his character has always an object of ridicule. After so many years of enacting the same role over and over again, Bobby Darling seems to have perfected the art of caricaturing himself.
And this is where my problem with him begins….
Not “Gay for Pay”
Unlike his predecessors like Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, etc who have portrayed characters who were variously termed as “homo”, “hijra”, “eunuch”, “chakka”, etc., Bobby Darling professes to be actually gay in real life. The other actors are only “gay for pay”, as a common term in gay circles goes. Hence it was expected that Bobby Darling atleast would have desisted from making a mockery of his sexuality.
All his characters are made fun of!
Ridiculed!
The audience laughs at his expense.
Who is this audience? Do you think the gay section of his audience enjoys his act? My bet is they abhor it!
His transvestite act is laughed at only by the straight section of the audience. Or the outwardly straight ones.
Bollywood has by and large remained completely insensitive to alternate sexuality unlike the West. A reflection of the society in which we live, perhaps. As a society, we are so expected to conform to centrist conventional norms in all aspects of life, and sexuality in general, that any deviation, radical or otherwise, is greeted with horror or derision.
A film like “Girlfriend” depicts a lesbian as a de-ranged vamp! Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Maharani, a eunuch, becomes a dreaded villain in ’’Sadak’’. Even an otherwise sensitive film like “My Brother Nikhil” carefully avoids the explicit spelling out of the relationship between its lead protagonists Sanjay Suri and Purab Kohli, and has a girlfriend as a prop, as a red herring, just in case.
In such a tight and rigid society, an individual who has suffered the brutality of a homophobic society ought not to have helped perpetuated the same reactions.
Inciting negativity
What is worse are his press talks and shocking statements about actors for whom he has the hots for. Such kind of statements further evoke negative responses from the straight society. Private fantasies are best left as they are, private, and not bandied about in the press! In terms of his verbosity, he can easily be called the “Mallika Sherawat of the transvestite community”!
Sex-change
For the past year or so, we have been subjected to newspaper reports about his decision to undergo a sex-change operation. But for a variety of reasons, this seems to be getting postponed. Why talk about such radical and intimate details to the press before actually going through it?
Finally,
This person evokes a wide range of reactions such as sympathy, derision, curiosity, indifference, disgust, etc.
Which one is yours?
Take your pick!