It's quite likely that actor Ashish Sharma, 34, the face and heartbeat of shows such as Gunahon Ka Devta, Chandragupta Maurya, Rang Rasiya and Siya Ke Ram, doesn't fit into the world of television. Instead, he seems at ease in roles such as Khejdi, an unreleased film he has co-written and produced with his wife, Archana Taide Sharma. The film follows a transwoman in rural Rajasthan, whose father keeps her locked in a room because he's scared of losing her. "Even today, in villages, if an intersex child is born, they give them away to the community," says Ashish. "All the transgenders on the street behave in a particular, similar way. Why? Are they born doing that? They are conditioned to behave like that because they have only two occupations: begging and prostitution. But, what if they were educated? Given an upbringing like us? What if the parents didn't give them away? That's what the film talks about." Despite being a popular actor, Ashish underwent three months of acting and Kathak workshops for the role. "I had to get rid of my muscularity. I had to prepare my muscle memory and erase 30 years of my life. I practised it so much, and lived it so much in my head, that I started sleeping like [a woman]. Archana started freaking out. But, it began to happen subconsciously."

Khejdi premiered at Kashish Film Festival