‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’: Meet the transwoman who penned down the unconventional love story

Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor starrer ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ by Shelly Chopra Dhar is the most unexpected love story of the upcoming year. Debut director Shelly has touched upon the less traveled path in Bollywood with this movie. The makers released the trailer a couple of days back and it is getting an overwhelming response from all quarters.

This is Sonam Kapoor’s first collaboration with her father Anil Kapoor. The trailer shows Sweety (Sonam Kapoor) painting a bride’s picture and dreaming about how she’ll fall in love with someone when she grows up. While her family hunts for a perfect groom, she makes a revelation that leaves her family flabbergasted. Though Sonam’s love interest is not revealed in the trailer, we get a hint that she is playing a homosexual character.

Well, don’t you want to know who has written the script of this coming of age film? She is a transwoman Gazal Dhaliwal. She is a screenplay writer who has written films like ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ and ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’.

Taking to her Instagram handle, Gazal shared a poster of ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’. Have a look.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br4EGEBA4TY/?utm_source=ig_embed

Let us throw some light on Gazal. She was born as a boy – Gunraj. Until 25 years, she struggled against gender dysphoria. Gazal appeared in Aamir Khan’s show, ‘Satyameva Jayate’, in which she revealed about her battle as to how she was trapped in a man’s body since the age of five. She was a software engineer at Infosys and then she moved to Mumbai to pursue her dream of writing for Bollywood. She got enrolled in St Xavier’s and learned filmmaking. While pursuing the course, she made a documentary on gender identity. When she showed the film to her parents, they asked her when she is going to get the operation (transition from male to female) done. Gazal said, “It was the biggest turning point of my life. There was no looking back ever since.”

Gazal considers her parents as the pillar of strength who stood by her and understood her. She has broken all the stereotypes by going through the transition and see where she stands today. Way to go girl!

Produced by Vinod Chopra Films and Fox Star Studios, the movie also stars Rajkummar Rao and Juhi Chawla. It is slated to release on February 1, 2019.

Also Read: Is this actress playing Sonam Kapoor’s love interest in ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga’?