Rubina Dilaik talks about playing a transgender on "Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki." Pictured: Rubina Dilaik aka Soumya of "Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki."
Rubina Dilaik talks about playing a transgender on "Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki." Pictured: Rubina Dilaik aka Soumya of "Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki."Rubina Dilaik/Twitter

Breaking the stereotype of saas-bahu dramas on Indian television, fairly new show "Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki" deals with a unique subject of transgenders. In the recent episodes, the viewers of the show were stunned when it was revealed that the show's lead character Soumya (played Rubina Dilaik) is a transgender.

Talking about playing the unconventional role, Rubina told IANS that as a actor, she found it quite challenging as such a concept has never been explored on Indian television. Also, she believes that it is a kind of role that she will be remembered for.

"After the leap, when the creative team discussed Soumya's future with me, I found the plot to be unconventional, intriguing and extremely challenging. I was very confident about their move of introducing a transgender character in a mainstream show," Rubina told IANS.

The actress said that the perception about the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community had been slowly changing in the society. "I have read about a lot of people from the community, who have reached great heights in their career -- have been appointed as school teachers and even won elections. I believe in the power of determination. I am sure that with constant efforts and with a progressive outlook, things will change in the near future," she added.

Since it's a new concept and Indian viewers have never really been comfortable watching content related to the LGBT community, the actress said that it is very important that the story is narrated in a convincing manner. 

"Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki" also features Vivian Dsena, Kamya Punjabi and Roshni Sahota in key roles and the showmakers hope to break the stigma associated with the third gender through Soumya's journey.

Fortunately, the viewers of the show have also been lauding the show makers as well as Rubina on Twitter for introducing the unique concept on television. Here are some of the tweets: