DNA Exclusive: Milind Soman reveals he was offered THIS role before he chose to play transgender 'Boris' in Paurashpur

Model-turned-actor and fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, who was in news for his 'nude' photo that he posted on his 55th birthday and then for his remarks on the backlash over it on social media, will be seen a never-seen-before avatar in ALTBalaji's upcoming series 'Paurashpur'.

Paurashpur is an epic story of an extraordinary kingdom with stories both bold and brutal, as the sexes battle it out amidst royal betrayals, double standards, gender politics and a decision that questions the social fabric of an entire kingdom.

In the series, the actor will be playing the third gender character 'Boris', who according to Milind is someone who will be seen fighting not just for himself and the discrimination and injustice he has had to face, but also will be seen rising against the fictional kingdom of Paurashpur to help the women and fight for them so that they are accepted as equals.

Recently, in an exclusive tête-à-tête with Milind, DNA spoke to the actor about his upcoming project, playing the third gender character and his thoughts on a section of people demanding that roles such as those of homosexuals or transgenders be played by real-life people and not actors. 

Love for period-dramas, Boris: The third gender character

While this will be one of the many period dramas Milind has been part of, in the past he has done Agni Varsha, Noor Jahan, Bajirao Mastani, so, on being asked what he likes most about this genre, Milind told DNA in an exclusive interaction, "Agni Varsha was based on an old mythological story, Bajirao Mastani was based on historical facts. I have also done Noor Jahan which was again based on historical facts but this is the first historical fantasy that I am doing. And I think this is fun because in terms of the storyline you can create a lot of surprises."

Speaking about his character Boris and shedding some light on what can the viewers expect from it, Milind said, "It is a character who fights against injustice and discrimination. He fights for a better world where there is fairness regardless of who you are or where you are from. And, I think that thought comes from the fact that he is a eunuch and he himself doesn't have that space that he thinks he should have in society. He doesn't have the recognition, the respect and since there's no community shown (in the series), so he is all alone. All his life he has fought to be accepted as an individual, as a human being. He sees this discrimination against women as well so he fights for them as well so that they should be accepted as equals."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning)

Revelation on the role

Indulging further into the conversation and speaking about how did the makers think he could play the role and his first reaction on being offered the role, Milind revealed that it wasn't offered to him at all. In fact, he said, that he chose the character. The one that was offered to him was that of the 'king', which is now being played by veteran actor Annu Kapoor.

"I was not offered this role. I was offered the role of the king. I refused the role of the king," he said.

However, he added that although he has played king several times before, this one in Paurashpur is far complex than what he has seen before and added that actor Annu Kapoor has done a fantastic job of essaying it. 

Elaborating on how then did he land up playing Boris, Milind told DNA, "This character (Boris) seemed to be much more interesting not only from the personality point of view, the characterisation but also the look. And the look stems from the fact that the character is so complex. I chose the character. Once I was interested in it, then they (makers) started developing the character. This project came to me almost a year ago where I was told these are the 2-3 considerable characters. I said no. Then it came to me twice again and the third time I saw this new character was introduced and it seemed interesting. So, I asked if I could play it? Of course, they said yes and that's how it happened." 

Viewers response to him playing the third gender character

Speaking about what kind of response he got from his fans about his upcoming project, in particular his role in the series, Milind said, "I had posted a picture from behind the scene many days before the first teaser trailer was released. It was a very tight close-up of my eyes and nose. You could see the Kajal and the nose pin and my face was covered with gulal. A lot of people said ‘what is this... we don’t want to see Milind like this...Milind is macho, very masculine and this is very feminine’ so I let it be and told myself I'm not going to be dictated by people's opinion of me. So, I just put it out there. But when the trailer came out, and there were snippets of scenes from the episode, at that time there was a lot of positive response. Everyone appreciated the look, body language etc.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning)

Inspiration for the role

When asked if he took any real-life inspiration or any cue from the other actors who have played transgenders before, Milind categorically said he hadn't. 

"No. I have not seen anyone like Boris," he said.

He further added, "We tried to stay away from the way eunuchs have been represented onscreen so far mostly. They have been represented in a very stereotypical way right form the clothes, look and attitude, body language, the expressions. All these things have been stereotyped a lot. So, we really wanted to stay away from that. We wanted to focus more on the human aspect of the character. About how is the person, what does he want and how he is like any one of the other characters." 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning)

Thoughts on real-life people essaying the roles

Expressing his thoughts on being presented with a sentiment that a section of people share -- that roles such as homosexuals and transgenders should be played by real-life people -- Milind said, "There's nothing wrong with that but ultimately it's acting. If I am playing a doctor, that does not mean we have to cast a doctor. I understand that there is a certain sensitivity attached to the question as well, and it is in terms of getting the space and recognition that they deserve, but I think as an actor, I can play anything."