Bollywood hails jewellery ad featuring trans protagonist, Shruti Seth says, 'All of us should buy something from them'
Several Bollywood celebrities such as Kritika Kamra, Alankrita Shrivastava, Shruti Seth, Tisca Chopra and others took to Twitter to hail a new ad, featuring a trans protagonist. Watch here.
A jewellery ad that traces the journey of a trans woman is being hailed by celebrities and the general public alike. The one-minute-forty-second advertisement, for a Kerala-based company, is being praised for its progressive message.
Kritika Kamra, Alankrita Shrivastava, Shruti Seth, Tisca Chopra and others took to Twitter to praise the advertisement. "I'm not crying, you're crying," wrote comedian-actor Vir Das.
"Love!!!" wrote Kritika, while Shruti commented, "This is one of the most remarkable ads I’ve seen. @bhimajewellers just upped the ante to another level. All of us should buy something from them as a show of support, so they continue to make more ads like this one. Please watch it and share." Alankrita tweeted, "Pure as love."
Sharing the advertisement on Twitter, one person had written, "Why aren't people talking about the new @bhimajewellers ad? It's a watershed moment in the history of #jewellery ads. A brave move. Will it help sell the product, I don't know. But it has dared to go where no one has before."
Several people applauded the advertisement in the comments section. On YouTube, one person, identifying themselves as trans, wrote, "Thank you for telling a story like this and I hope the person playing the role in the ad is trans person herself/themself and not a cis-het person. Because only if it is a trans person it’s 'representation', otherwise, it’s just a jewellery company using 'trans issues' as vehicle to advance their brand." The brand replied, "She’s a real trans person- Meera Singhania. And we’ve tried to stay as authentic as we can to the cause. Thank you for your love and support. Keep watching."
Last year, another jewellery advertisement depicting the story of an interfaith couple was pulled after social media controversy. Several Bollywood actors had slammed the move to take the ad down.