The story transitions

The writer of the first mainstream ad starring a trans woman celebrates how Indian audiences have grown inclusive and accepting

ABy Sheetal Raghav

mongst the many kinds of token advertising the industry has to offer, probably the most tired is ads for women, where the bare minimum is celebrated as something radical, brave, path-breaking, you know the words. As a woman, I like to think these ads are written by an imaginary man who thinks words can make up for personal experience and authenticity.

While writing the ad for Bhima Jewellery, I was deeply aware of the fact that in this case, I was that imaginary man, trying to write a story that did not belong to me.

So Sayantan (creative head of the agency, Animal) and I had a number of discussions about the prevalent narratives on the trans experience in popular culture; things we should avoid depicting and what would seem progressive not to the public, but to the community itself. All this, wrapped up in family love, where the act of giving jewellery embodies the blessings of the giver.

Sayantan Choudhury, the creative head behind the ad

Keep it real

Although the film does not depict Meera’s (the protagonist) real story, we wanted to be as truthful to her as possible. So, we picked her brain over calls. One thing she said was that she felt this storytelling was crucial as it’s different narrative to the trauma-ridden trans experience usually depicted in pop culture.

For us, the film was about imagining a world where everything was right in terms of rights and trans women were blessed with (arguably) much simpler baggage like, “What to wear tonight?” I’d probably add more of these ‘normal’ situations because to normalise something, you have to show life as it is.

More utopian than the film itself were the people who came together to make it. We were blessed with two women as clients who had a clear-cut vision of making their 96-year-old legacy stand for something more meaningful, and a stellar director in Bharat Sikka. In advertising, such an experience is about as rare as a unicorn.

And a unicorn it is, a 100-second ad going viral in the world of 6-seconders, every ‘like’ a well of encouragement I’ll draw from, perhaps for years.

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com Follow @Htbrunch on Twitter and Instagram Sheetal Raghav, 30, is the writer of the jewellery ad that starred trans woman Meera. She is the Creative Director - Copy at advertising agency Animal and has been in the profession for seven years

Stills from the jewellery adthat shows the journey of a bearded teenager accepting her identity and transitioning into a beautiful trans woman

“TO NORMALISE SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO SHOW LIFE AS IT IS” —SHEETAL RAGHAV