Move Over Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz's Casting As Trans Woman In Gangubai Kathiawadi Stirs A Controversy

Yesterday, when the makers of Gangubai Kathiawadi dropped the film's trailer, netizens went berserk over Alia Bhatt's powerful performance. The trailer was praised not only by netizens, but film critics as well. Among all the appreciation, actor Vijay Raaz's casting as trans woman has also grabbed netizens' attention. However, his casting has started a debate on the internet.

While some felt that Raaz nailed the role of trans woman, others felt that the makers should have approached a real trans woman to play the character rather than casting him.

A user wrote, "While everyone has praised @aliaabhatt for #GangubaiKathiawadi, another actor that needs appreciation is #VijayRaaz. His appearance was so chilling, it gave me goosebumps."

While praising the talented actor, another user wrote, "#VijayRaaz in #GangubaiKathiawadi will be a treat to watch. #SanjayLeelaBhansali has chosen the RIGHT PERSON for the role.... @aliaa08 looks great but Vijay Raaz will definitely steal the show."

"Let's take a moment to appreciate Vijay Raj. What an actor, every role he do, he just nailed it. One of the finest actors but yet to get the name that he deserves. And every single actor in this movie has done a tremendous job. Sure sure must watch movie," wrote one more user.

As mentioned above, everyone is not happy to see Raaz as trans woman. They took to social media to express their displeasure over his casting in Gangubai Kathiawadi.

A user wrote, "Can Bollywood stop casting cis/straight people as transsexual characters, please? It's 2022 already and I am pretty sure that there is enough talent in this country where an actual transsexual can portray a transsexual character."

"It's about representation and opportunities, trans people are a minority and are hardly shown in media, they don't get a chance to play even the roles written about them," wrote another user while debating over the Delhi Belly actor's casting in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming directorial.

Recently, netizens had also criticised Abhishek Kapoor for casting Vaani Kapoor as trans woman and slammed the filmmaker for not casting a real trans woman to make the film more authentic.

(Social media posts are unedited.)