A complete package of an artist as a whole, Sushant Divgikr has proved all of it for themselves. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, they get candid with us about their journey, their first film, Thank You for Coming, and more.
Tejal Sinha
Sass, beauty, and talent go hand-in-hand when you have Sushant Divgikr on board. One thing they made sure was to keep going, irrespective of the challenges that the journey brought forward. Having had a not-so-easy journey, of course, they’ve always said and maintained a love for challenges, and so, life never seemed boring.
Grateful and humbled by the fact that after 17 long years, Sushant is now able to work and share their work and art with the world, being inspired by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Uthup, Whitney Houston, and Kishore Kumar. Having so much more to offer, Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost—the journey has just begun, and beginning with a film after 17 years is awe-inspiring after all!
Aka Rani KoHEnur, does call attention to, during our exclusive tête-à-tête for parents to respect what their children are, just like Sushant’s parents, who they say have been a rockstar and epitome of parenthood, love, and unconditional support.
While this year, the entertainment industry has brought in some amazing films and series like Taali and Haddi, Sushant does feel, “A year ago, the queer representation in Indian cinema was CRAP. People who believed that they were doing a favor to the community were in delusion. While my foundation supplies and provides free therapy sessions to the community, I feel these people are the ones who need the therapy for making fun of trans people, showing them as beggars, prostitutes, and sex workers. They have completely neglected that we are psychologists, psychiatrists, architects, doctors, and whatnot. In fact, we are just living human beings to begin with. These straight men or cisgender women writing these roles do no research and have an absolute lower than room temperature IQ. I definitely feel they’ve been living in a bubble that we’ve burst with our beautiful nails.”
Basically, Divgikr wants to live in a time where one doesn’t have to say anything like a trans actor or a singer. “Just like the commodities that are available for you are also consumed by us, and that is how the films should also be commodities and the industry that people consume, I think the content that we make shouldn’t be labeled and coded with such serious stereotypical undertones,” shares the Thank You for Coming fame, who has been grateful for the response, which for Sushant feels much like Der Aaye par Drusht aaye. “This was the first film, I would say, in which a trans person or a trans story has been told on a larger screen, or else you see a lot of OTT platforms beginning to start, which I really appreciate. These are the films and series that should be shown on television on Prime Time TV and in theaters as well. Thank You For Coming did a lot of justice for the queer characters, which were of course played by me.”
Sushant has also been a part of India’s most controversial show, Bigg Boss (season 8), and for the same, they are thankful for the fact of being on the show, but, “The show didn’t really do much for me. I worked my ass off even after the show, and as you can see, the results have spoken for themselves. The personal challenge that I faced on the show was that I thought that I understood the game, and the game was that we were not against each other. In fact, the show was a social experiment, and to date, I don’t understand why people shout at each other and scream at each other, having no values and seeming like so ‘Jaahil’. It has now suddenly become so fashionable to be shouting everywhere and stuff. I was like, No, I’d rather put on some Rabindra sangeet in the morning and meditate.”
In fact, there’s a little more that they had to say: “I had a problem with the way I guess people perceived us as a community and the fact that I didn’t necessarily fit into all of those, where you know, I think the whole fact that one was expected to bitch, one was expected to fight, and I don’t think I’m that sort of a person unless I am confronted. I just thought that everyone was in everyone’s face, and I just thought, My God, what is happening? I was one of the youngest contestants, but I would see that people were just so impulsive, barring maybe three or four people that were actually quite lost on the show. Clearly, I did it for the money; I don’t know what other people did it for. I don’t want to take names again, but some people thought they looked very pretty, and considering everywhere there was a mirror and they didn’t see themselves, that was quite propitious. I don’t want to land myself in a catastrophic situation or a predicament where I cannot escape. Today, if I’m called again on this show, I’ll probably do it for money again. (We laugh out loud.) I don’t know why people make it look like you are there to show your family values. You are there to win the show, participate, and make money out of it. It’s so hectic and chaotic, and anyway, as a person, I am all of those things I don’t need more of in my life.”
Of course, we could see a real Sushant Divgikr, unlike how people often get tagged as having a ‘fake’ personality, having fought for themselves, and making the points loud and clear. “They thought they’d be okay to bully me, but of course nobody did, and I stood up for myself. There’s no scope for people like us to bring a romantic angle just for the show, and then later, when the breakup happens, it becomes news. And then you call yourself an actor! Making news out of all of it. It’s a mixture of these 7-8 shows, like where they are thrown from airplanes into reptilian mouths and mice on their faces, then put in shows like ‘Pata nahi kya hi jhalak dikhlate hai’ and then keep going on different shows.”
But, yes, the Bigg Boss makers had approached the 3 Devi star for the second season of Bigg Boss OTT, but not being well aware of how it would be with OTT, and with the film coming out, they had to decline the offer.
“I have had to be very particular about the projects I had to choose because I can’t sell my soul to Satan for a couple of bugs. I have had to say no to some because they don’t go with my principles and values,” highlights the Bigg Boss fame, adding, “I don’t get rid of the negativity. I just don’t allow them in the first place. It’s like from the beginning. It’s like, don’t enter; I don’t have negativity. Then I just concentrate on my goal and just look at myself and not let anything affect me.”
As we head towards the end of our chat, Sushant, who is sure and shot to have a busy 2024 with a web series release, doing multiple campaigns, and live band singing all over the USA and Canada, speaks of the unfortunate incidents of teen queers ending their lives by suicide. “Just think that it’s because we have to lose so many beautiful young lives. But for every young person watching and reading this, I would like to say that I have to give you my love. Please don’t give your life to some idiots. Not everyone is going to celebrate you, but that doesn’t mean you’re not important, you’re not beautiful, and you’re special. Just always let your life shine, do your best, and forget the rest.”
Currently doing an India tour, here’s to many more iconic things Sushant is bringing for us, and we are sure looking forward to it.
Sass, beauty, and talent go hand-in-hand when you have Sushant Divgikr on board. One thing they made sure was to keep going, irrespective of the challenges that the journey brought forward. Having had a not-so-easy journey, of course, they’ve always said and maintained a love for challenges, and so, life never seemed boring.
Grateful and humbled by the fact that after 17 long years, Sushant is now able to work and share their work and art with the world, being inspired by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Uthup, Whitney Houston, and Kishore Kumar. Having so much more to offer, Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost—the journey has just begun, and beginning with a film after 17 years is awe-inspiring after all!
Aka Rani KoHEnur, does call attention to, during our exclusive tête-à-tête for parents to respect what their children are, just like Sushant’s parents, who they say have been a rockstar and epitome of parenthood, love, and unconditional support.
While this year, the entertainment industry has brought in some amazing films and series like Taali and Haddi, Sushant does feel, “A year ago, the queer representation in Indian cinema was CRAP. People who believed that they were doing a favor to the community were in delusion. While my foundation supplies and provides free therapy sessions to the community, I feel these people are the ones who need the therapy for making fun of trans people, showing them as beggars, prostitutes, and sex workers. They have completely neglected that we are psychologists, psychiatrists, architects, doctors, and whatnot. In fact, we are just living human beings to begin with. These straight men or cisgender women writing these roles do no research and have an absolute lower than room temperature IQ. I definitely feel they’ve been living in a bubble that we’ve burst with our beautiful nails.”
Basically, Divgikr wants to live in a time where one doesn’t have to say anything like a trans actor or a singer. “Just like the commodities that are available for you are also consumed by us, and that is how the films should also be commodities and the industry that people consume, I think the content that we make shouldn’t be labeled and coded with such serious stereotypical undertones,” shares the Thank You for Coming fame, who has been grateful for the response, which for Sushant feels much like Der Aaye par Drusht aaye. “This was the first film, I would say, in which a trans person or a trans story has been told on a larger screen, or else you see a lot of OTT platforms beginning to start, which I really appreciate. These are the films and series that should be shown on television on Prime Time TV and in theaters as well. Thank You For Coming did a lot of justice for the queer characters, which were of course played by me.”
Sushant has also been a part of India’s most controversial show, Bigg Boss (season 8), and for the same, they are thankful for the fact of being on the show, but, “The show didn’t really do much for me. I worked my ass off even after the show, and as you can see, the results have spoken for themselves. The personal challenge that I faced on the show was that I thought that I understood the game, and the game was that we were not against each other. In fact, the show was a social experiment, and to date, I don’t understand why people shout at each other and scream at each other, having no values and seeming like so ‘Jaahil’. It has now suddenly become so fashionable to be shouting everywhere and stuff. I was like, No, I’d rather put on some Rabindra sangeet in the morning and meditate.”
In fact, there’s a little more that they had to say: “I had a problem with the way I guess people perceived us as a community and the fact that I didn’t necessarily fit into all of those, where you know, I think the whole fact that one was expected to bitch, one was expected to fight, and I don’t think I’m that sort of a person unless I am confronted. I just thought that everyone was in everyone’s face, and I just thought, My God, what is happening? I was one of the youngest contestants, but I would see that people were just so impulsive, barring maybe three or four people that were actually quite lost on the show. Clearly, I did it for the money; I don’t know what other people did it for. I don’t want to take names again, but some people thought they looked very pretty, and considering everywhere there was a mirror and they didn’t see themselves, that was quite propitious. I don’t want to land myself in a catastrophic situation or a predicament where I cannot escape. Today, if I’m called again on this show, I’ll probably do it for money again. (We laugh out loud.) I don’t know why people make it look like you are there to show your family values. You are there to win the show, participate, and make money out of it. It’s so hectic and chaotic, and anyway, as a person, I am all of those things I don’t need more of in my life.”
Of course, we could see a real Sushant Divgikr, unlike how people often get tagged as having a ‘fake’ personality, having fought for themselves, and making the points loud and clear. “They thought they’d be okay to bully me, but of course nobody did, and I stood up for myself. There’s no scope for people like us to bring a romantic angle just for the show, and then later, when the breakup happens, it becomes news. And then you call yourself an actor! Making news out of all of it. It’s a mixture of these 7-8 shows, like where they are thrown from airplanes into reptilian mouths and mice on their faces, then put in shows like ‘Pata nahi kya hi jhalak dikhlate hai’ and then keep going on different shows.”
But, yes, the Bigg Boss makers had approached the 3 Devi star for the second season of Bigg Boss OTT, but not being well aware of how it would be with OTT, and with the film coming out, they had to decline the offer.
“I have had to be very particular about the projects I had to choose because I can’t sell my soul to Satan for a couple of bugs. I have had to say no to some because they don’t go with my principles and values,” highlights the Bigg Boss fame, adding, “I don’t get rid of the negativity. I just don’t allow them in the first place. It’s like from the beginning. It’s like, don’t enter; I don’t have negativity. Then I just concentrate on my goal and just look at myself and not let anything affect me.”
As we head towards the end of our chat, Sushant, who is sure and shot to have a busy 2024 with a web series release, doing multiple campaigns, and live band singing all over the USA and Canada, speaks of the unfortunate incidents of teen queers ending their lives by suicide. “Just think that it’s because we have to lose so many beautiful young lives. But for every young person watching and reading this, I would like to say that I have to give you my love. Please don’t give your life to some idiots. Not everyone is going to celebrate you, but that doesn’t mean you’re not important, you’re not beautiful, and you’re special. Just always let your life shine, do your best, and forget the rest.”
Currently doing an India tour, here’s to many more iconic things Sushant is bringing for us, and we are sure looking forward to it.
