Transgenders becoming reality:

KOLKATA: Actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen who helms and stars in the forthcoming film Sonata said she included a transgender character in the English drama to enhance visibility of the marginalised.

“I felt, apart from friendship, the film was exploring many aspects of the ‘feminine’. I wanted to broaden that spectrum, include a person from a different economic strata and include a transgender female because transgenders are becoming a reality,” she said here at a discussion on ‘Text in Context’.

Sonata is an adaption of the eponymous play by playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar. It will hit the screens on April 21.

The English drama is a psychological exploration of three unmarried women facing a mid-life crisis. It stars Lilette Dubey, Sen and Shabana Azmi. Sen said the marginalised sections of society are “completely invisible”.

“There was a time when I started including a challenged person in almost all my films because of only one reason... because we have made them completely invisible and people have had no exposure to them,” explained the filmmaker and actor.

“So I don’t want to make them invisible. Let there be this transgender girl who is a friend of ours. So that’s the reason I included a transgender character,” she added. LOS ANGELES: Indiaborn Us-based actor Freida Pinto, who was earlier in a relationship with actor Dev Patel for seven years, is currently single. She says it feels like she is born again. “For the first time, I finally understand the concept of self-love and self-care. I’m single and happy, and busy. I haven’t been single for a long time. It’s like being born again,” Pinto told dailymail. co.uk. Freida and Dev, who started dating during the filming of Slumdog Millionaire, which released in 2008, parted ways in December 2014. “You can be with someone and it can be really good for your growth. That’s what Dev was for me. The seven years I was with him were so impactful. But I ended up being single when I started thinking about these other things,” she said.