Anurag Kashyap says he wanted to cast a transgender actor for Kukoo in Sacred Games but they were ‘in fear’: ‘Whenever we reached out…’

Anurag Kashyap said that back when he was casting for the role of Kukoo in Sacred Games, the director reached out to many transgender actors, but they said no.

Anurag Kashyap shared why he could not hire a transgender actor for Kukoo's role in Sacred Games.

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Anurag Kashyap will be soon be seen in Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Haddi where Nawaz is playing the role of a transgender person. In a recent interview, when Anurag was asked about casting transgender actors in films and web shows, the director said that the conversation has started but there is still a long way to go. He added that representation is important, but one also has to be a good actor to land the part.

The filmmaker added that when he was casting for Kukoo’s part in Sacred Games, he wanted a transgender person for the role, but no one wanted to come on board. Kubbra Sait played the role in the Netflix series. Anurag told Pinkvilla, “I faced this thing during Sacred Games. While casting Kukoo, whenever we reached out to somebody from the transgender community, they said no. At that time, the world was not ready to accept them as they were and they were also in fear.”

The director, however added that one can’t land a role just because they fulfill the criteria of representation. “Representation can’t be taken for granted, (they) have to be a fantastic actor,” he said and added, “There’s a casting requirement but there’s also a performance requirement.”

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Recently, in shows like Made in Heaven and the film Ghoomer, actors from the community were cast to play characters who belonged to the community. He said that even in Haddi, there are a few transgender actors. “There has to be representation, I understand, but representation can’t be taken for granted,” he insisted and said that one has to be ready to do workshops required for the part and be a “fantastic actor”. “You have to do workshops. Just because I am representing something, I can’t get the role. Because the conversation is happeing now, people are workshopping. The change is happening, it will not happen overnight,” he said.

Anurag added that the audience has become more accepting in the post-pandemic era as they have gotten exposed to more content. “What has happened in the post pandemic time is that people have become more aware, they are accepting more.”

Made in Heaven was appreciated for casting Trinetra Haldar in the role of a transgender person.

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