Jayasurya, Manoj to play transgenders?
Parvathy S Nayar, TNN | Jun 5, 2012, 12.00AM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/malayalam/news-and-interviews/Jayasurya-Manoj-to-play-transgenders/articleshow/13813942.cms

The posters of Jayasurya as a transgender has been splashed on film and social networking sites announcing the project, Ardhanareeswaran, where the actor is said to play a hijda. That set us wondering if Mollywood would witness two transgender-centric films in a row, as singer-turned-music composer M G Sreekumar's debut production venture, Ardhanari, is also centred on the lives of hijdas.

Actor Jayasurya confirms that he and Anoop were to team together in a film that was to have him playing a transgender, with Anoop penning the story. "We had an idea in mind, but it never really took off. As of now, we haven't started work on the project yet."

[...]

Meanwhile, director Santosh Souparnika is upbeat about his transgender-centric film, Ardhanari, which will go on the floors this July. "Ardhanari traces the life of a hijda played by Manoj K Jayan, his life plagued by troubles in his hometown and his landing up at a hamam of the hijdas in another town," he says, adding, "What set me working on the script was an interaction with a man whom I had known for long but never realised was a transgender. One day, he told me about the problems he, as a transgender, faced from society. That, coupled with research on the subject, prompted me to make a film on hijdas. I've worked on the script for close to three years now."