Karpaga

Karpaga is perhaps first and last trans actress who acted in a film called ‘Paal.' Karpaga is the first trans person to get a break as a leading heroine in the mainstream movie. This film industry normally says about the lack of trans roles in films but also less tell that roles exist for them in the film industry too. This film ‘Paal’ proved that how we have come as a society regarding accepting perceived differences. But now that the industry is offering trans role to transgender actors proves that we still have a long way to go. Karpaga was born in Erode Tamil Nadu. But at an age of 17, she left for Mumbai where she worked in a saloon and got accepted in her family after five years when she returned home after a long hardship. After getting a role of a leading actress in ‘Paal’ directed by D. Sivakumar, she got other roles in few films. But nothing progressed, and she still looks forward to getting accepted in Kollywood.

In film ‘Paal’, Revathy played her mother who was a very vital part of the film. The film also focused on the difficulty of acceptance of a transgender girl in society. The films also sent a message to the society to accept them. The fact is that the film industry is over-crowded industry and just getting the work in the first place is difficult for Karpaga. So long, the scriptwriters and producers had hardly regarded the transgenders as an issue characters. But in reality, they are the people with disabilities or form ethnic minorities, who are just people and have stories to tell. Karpaga, as a person too, is like something untouchable on the other side of the skin. She has an outward appearance, and she has an inner state -and that is her gender- which people still abandons. After her break in one Tamil movie, she is not seen any more on the screen.