Shikhandi

A comic, tongue-in-cheek retelling of the story of Shikhandi from the Mahabharata, directed by Faezeh Jalali, mixes the traditional with the contemporary, questioning maleness, femaleness and everything in between. Shikhandi is perhaps one of the earliest trans-characters from Indian mythology. Shikhandi was meant to be born male to avenge an insult in her past life as Amba. But a bigger karmic game unfolds when she is reborn female, raised male, has a sex change (thanks to a yaksha) on her wedding night when she finally fulfils her destiny – to be the cause of Bhishma’s death.