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One of Bollywood's most hotly anticipated movies of the year, "Laxmii," is already among 's most controversial. Since a trailer and posters like the one pictured below emerged last month, Hindu nationalists have expressed outrage at the movie's depiction of interfaith love and the similarity between its title -- initially billed Portrayao "Laxmmi Bomb" -- and the name of the goddess Lakshmi. Calls to boycott the movie have grown louder online since its release on Monday. But other criticisms have emerged from another part of Indian society altogether.

Why does Bollywood use the offensive practice of brownface in movies? With a storyline that centers around a Muslim protagonist possessed by a https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/blog/work-experience-programme/thoughts-on-the-dying-process.php transgender ghost, the movie has been slammed by critics for reinforcing discriminatory stereotypes of trans people as predatory or associated with supernatural evil.

For many in the LGBTQ community, the plot taps into Bollywood's long history of both mocking and vilifying trans people in a way that could have dangerous real-life implications. The comedy-horror "Laxmii" sees actor Akshay Kumar play a character possessed by a transgender ghost. Credit: Fox Star Studios.

The comedy-horror sees Akshay Kumar, one of Indian cinema's most bankable stars, assume a sari, jewelry and makeup as his possessed character terrorizes a petrified family. Beyond his exaggerated performance, the choice of Kumar -- who is not only a cisgender actor, but one with a track record of playing traditionally masculine heroes -- has also raised eyebrows. It's basically stealing my job. After seeing the movie this week, she added: "It's just annoying to be 'cis-plained' by a straight man in a heteronormative narrative.

Although Fox Star Studios and Kumar did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment, Kumar has been vocal online in expressing support for trans communities in the build-up to the movie's release. A promotional poster for the Bollywood movie "Laxmii. Portrayed as villains. Over recent decades, Bollywood has displayed a tendency for using trans characters as a source of comic relief rather than engaging with sensitive storylines about gender identity. Major studios have sometimes used cross-dressing, or the transformation of well-known male actors, as a source Media Portrayal Of Violence In The Media humor.

Perhaps more problematically, trans characters often function as villains, and are regularly depicted as evil or predatory. An infamous example is 's "Sadak," which saw actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar's portrayal of a nefarious transgender pimp win a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role.

This kind of "demonization" is symptomatic of prejudices in wider society, according to Sonali Pattnaik, a professor at St. Xavier's College in Ahmedabad who has studied Bollywood's representation of "hijra" -- a term that includes intersex and transgender people, and falls under India's legally recognized "third gender" category. Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone offers glimpse of upcoming acid attack film.

For Pattnaik, trans characters are "othered" because they "threaten mainstream masculinity.

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Culturally, hijras are believed by some to have the power to bless or curse, and often collect tips at ceremonies and festivals, as well as on roads or on public transport, in exchange for blessings. It's the same kind of mystification, rather than actually allowing them to tell their own story in their own terms, humanizing them and seeing them as human beings like you and me.

The controversy around "Laxmii" comes at a time when transgender people source to face violence and discrimination in India, despite attempts to secure protections under the law. While the Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act, passed inostensibly sought to defend the rights and welfare of transgender communities, it was roundly criticized by lawyers and activists as being incomprehensive and open to interpretation. The legislation, which requires individuals to apply for a certificate identifying them as transgender to change their legal status, will serve to "violate the rights of trans people rather than respect and uplift long-persecuted communities," according to Human Rights Watch.

No seats at the table. Bollywood studios have a long history of casting cisgender male actors for trans roles, from Ashutosh Rana in "Sangharsh" Te Arif Zakaria in "Darmiyaan: In Between.]