June 19, 2026 09:46 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Fortuner torched, BJP leaders burnt alive: Sand mining feud ends in triple murder in Chhattisgarh | 'If Modi is the leader and India is attacked, we'll be there': Trump's strong assurance at G7 | 'Safety of Indian seafarers of utmost importance': PM Modi's strong message to Trump at G7 | Trump says Iran deal 'not final', threatens fresh strikes if Tehran ‘doesn’t behave’ | G7 declares war on global drug cartels, unveils major anti-trafficking plan | India, Canada launch security pact talks, target trade deal completion in 2026 | PM Modi flags seafarer safety at G7, calls for secure maritime routes amid Hormuz tensions | Messi makes history with first World Cup hat-trick, equals Klose's all-time record in Argentina's 3-0 win | Tragedy in the skies: Five IAF personnel killed in AN-32 crash in Assam | 'Ask probe officers whether I hid anything': Abhishek Banerjee hits back after pre-dawn police search

Now a Bengali film on male transgenders frequenting traffic signals

| | Feb 11, 2016, at 04:53 pm
Kolkata, Feb 11 (IBNS) Exploring the world of male transgenders frequenting road crossings of the city, young director Barshali Chatterjee's Bengali film Jenana stars Saswata Chatterjee, Priyanka Sarkar and Sampurna among others.

 "Jenana takes a sneak peek into the never-seen-before world of those men who join the transgender community for their livelihood as Somu become Sumona and likewise. The film revolves around the transgender community with an extensive research work for months," Barshali says about the film..

 Says Saswata, "Jenana is a tale of the flourishing 'industry' that exists at the traffic signals, the male community who change their social-sexual identity to eke out a living."

"May sound cliche but seriously I accepted the film's offer as I had never portrayed a role like this beforehand. And I mean it," Saswata says.

Barshali says, “This film aims to explore that relatively unfamiliar Kolkata where a man is joining the transgender community and that community is christened Jenanas. My film begins with Somu aka Sumona, a jenana, narrating his story to an aspiring young director Riya."

"We chose a public place - opposite Tollygunje metro station - for film's promotion since Jenana talks about the street fighters who are spurned by society and we see countless of such Jenanas, with heavily made up faces, across important public thoroughfares," the young, spunky director says.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.