The only man to win a Best Actress award is an Indian, but not Kamal Haasan, Govinda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, or Akshay Kumar.
Very few Indian actresses have had the honour of winning Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress awards internationally. Indian films have done well on the festival circuit in Europe from time to time but and some actresses have brought home these laurels. But among the Indian winners of Best Actress award internationally is one curious entry – a man who won the award for portraying a transgender, something no Indian has done before or since.
The only Indian male actor to win Best Actress award
Several Indian actors have played transgenders or cross-dressers in Indian cinema, ranging from Kamal Haasan in Chachi 420 and Govinda in Aunty No 1 to Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Heropanti 2 and Akshay Kumar in Laxxmi. However, none of them won an international award for their performance. The unique honour goes to late actor Nirmal Pandey, best known for his villainous roles in films like Auzaar and Godmother in the 90s, and various supporting roles in criticall-acclaimed and hit films. Early on in his career, Pandey starred in Amol Palekar’s critically-acclaimed 1996 film Daayra. He played a transvestite (kinnar) in the film who falls in love with a woman struggling to get out of trauma of a sexual assault. The other character was played by Sonali Kulkarni. Both the actors were praised for their performance in the film and at the Valenciennes Film Festival in France in 1997, Pandey and Kulkarni shared the Best Actress award. Even the Limca Book of Records regocnised Pandey’s special feat.
Why Amol Palekar’s Daayra was never released in India
Due to its sensitive themes and focus on sexuality and crimes against women, Daayra never did get a theatrical release in India. Director Amol Palekar later told The Wire that the makers were asked to delete "some allegedly obscene dialogue and phrases " following which an A-certificate was given to the film by the Central Board of Film Certification in August 1996. However, it still did not release in theatres. Upon praise at international film festivals, it was given a direct-to-DVD release in India a few years later.
Nirmal Pandey’s life and death
Born in 1962, Nirmal Pandey graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), following which he moved to London to do theatre. Upon his return, he made his film debut in 1994 with Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen where he played dacoit Vikram Mallah. Apart from his negative roles in Auzaar, Pyaar Kiy To Darna Kya, and One 2 Ka 4, the actor showed his versatility with comic roles in films like Hadh Kar Di Aapne. He died in 2010 at the age of 47 of a heart attack. His final film – Lahore – was released after his death.
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 "This male actor won the Best Actress award at the Valenciennes Film Festival in France")
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