Mumbai: To get the representation right, the makers of Nawazuddin Siddqui-starrer Haddi have brought on board 300 real transgender people in the film.
Debut producer duo Sanjay Saha and Raadhika Nanda are helming the film. The former calls the process of finding 300 transgender people for the film ‘adventurous’.
He said: “The process was very adventurous and hard at the same time. It was not very difficult to convince them as we were also learning their life experiences and making them a part of the film. We had a great time learning tons of things from them, including how their life and world is very different from us.”
There was one transgender woman named Renuka who helped the filmmakers during the research of the film.
Sanjay said: “She helped us learn about their community and their upbringing, along with the challenges faced by them from childhood to their day-to-day life. She also made us visit many people from the community which helped us write the script and get a better understanding of their life. She had brought some of her friends from the community to Nawaz so that he could get into the character and deeply understand their life.”
“I’m glad how Nawaz has spent a lot of time with them and making sure he truly understands what they go through.”
The team shot with the transgender people in Delhi. Sanjay credits Renuka for helping them make Haddi more authentic when it comes to transgender representation.
“Renuka has helped us through the entire medical process too, including how the operation happens and what they have to go through post-operation. The writers sat with the transgender people to have a fair understanding of where they live, where they get treated, what they do in daily lives, and followed their lifestyle which helped us a lot to make Haddi a truth-based film on them since Nawaz is playing a transgender,” he said.