“I just wanted to clear the misconceptions that some people have about my recent role,” Yasir Hussain wrote. “The images that you have seen over social media of me wearing a sari are for a project in which I am playing the role of my mother. I am not playing the role of a transgender and by no means do I ever want to disrespect a gender that I have immense regard for.”
Actor and comic Yasir Hussain is not new to controversies and that too, surrounding sensitive issues. Two years back, an insensitive joke about a child molester at an award ceremony generated severe criticism for the actor, and recently, he is in hot waters, once again.
Yasir will be seen as a female character Durdana in an Eid telefilm, called Help Me Durdana, and he recently posted his picture while dressed up as Durdana. People assumed that he is essaying the role of a transperson. This followed comments like ‘Why don’t you guys hire an actual transgender?’ and ‘Kisi khusry ki bddua lag gyi hai shyd’ started pouring in. It is an issue that has erupted in Hollywood as well. And one can’t help but say that Yasir handled the comments poorly because he ended up making transphobic jokes (‘matlab apko job chahye,’ ‘Aap ne bddua di thi kia’) which weren’t funny at all.
However, in a recent turn of events, Yasir took to social media and cleared the air, informing that he isn’t playing the role of a transperson in the first place and that he has immense respect for the third gender. Doesn’t seem like it. But okay.
“I just wanted to clear the misconceptions that some people have about my recent role,” he wrote. “The images that you have seen over social media of me wearing a sari are for a project in which I am playing the role of my mother. I am not playing the role of a transgender and by no means do I ever want to disrespect a gender that I have immense regard for.”
“We as public figures receive a lot of retaliation/negative comments and just because I chose to reply to a comment with a joke does not in any way mean that I have no respect for a certain gender,” he added.
We’re not sold. This kind of behaviour is why the industry isn’t flourishing as well as it should and it is intolerable when well-established artists showcase no civility in a public forum, irrespective of the role.
