Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, a transgender woman and a 26-year-old doctor turned actor, is all set for her maiden innings in the film industry with Amazon Prime Video India’s ‘Made In Heaven Season 2’, which will release this year. The first season of the critically acclaimed web series, which is the brainchild of directors Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, was released in the year 2019.
Talking about how she landed her big break, Trinetra informed us, “I auditioned for ‘Made In Heaven 2’ at the start of my internship in the hospital. I gave it a shot because I had nothing to lose. I had no contacts in the industry. When it worked out, I couldn’t believe it, and I still don’t think I can. I have a long way to go with acting, and I’d like to focus on telling stories and making them authentic to lived experience. I don’t know how my performance will be received, but what I take a lot of pride in, is that I auditioned for this, it wasn’t given to me.”
Her on-screen portrayal in the forthcoming series will revolve around the narrative of transphobia and will establish a milestone moment for the Indian trans community as Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju will be the first trans artist to play a recurring character in a mainstream OTT release.
Elaborating further on her role, Trinetra said, “I play a wedding planner who heads production at the wedding company ‘Made In Heaven’, producing and organising the most elite, large scale weddings in the bustling city of Delhi. While fantastic at her job, she struggles with acceptance as a trans woman, especially in attempts at finding true love. Through this character, I want people to see that trans women are women, and deserve every right to be treated as such. Trans people in general are human beings, and we deserve opportunity, love, respect, success. In a country where 99% of us are discarded by our biological families, I want society to see that a little acceptance goes a long way.”
Talking about how she was fascinated about cinema as a young child, Trinetra stated, “As a young trans child, even the idea of becoming Karnataka’s first trans doctor, and then working with some of the biggest filmmakers in the country might have been entirely unimaginable. Working with Zoya Akhtar, Neeraj Ghaywan, Alankrita Shrivastav, Reema Kagti and Nitya Mehra - and all at once - is an actor's absolute dream, and the good fortune of it all is not lost on me.”
Having undergone gender affirming surgery at 21, armed with little more than conviction and gumption, Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju has since emerged as one of the most prominent voices for trans people in the country.
Meanwhile, coming to ‘Made In Heaven’, the series, backed by Excel Entertainment, follows the lives of two wedding planners — Tara and Karan, essayed by Sobhita Dhulipala and Arjun Mathur respectively— as they arrange the most flamboyant of Indian weddings for a super-elite clientele. Where the show stands out is its commentary on the social issues and archaic traditions such as same-sex relationships, infidelity, forced marriages, politics, casteism and elitism that are prevalent in each of these weddings and how the various characters navigate them.
The series features an ensemble cast including Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Kalki Koechlin, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi and Jim Sarbh among others.
