“The Time Has Arrived For Films Like These”

Anindita Ghosh catches up with Gazal Dhaliwal, the transwoman writer of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, who won over critics and audiences alike with her nuanced screenplay

Gazal Dhaliwal, the celebrated screenplay and dialogue writer of films such as Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga and Lipstick Under My Burkha, is perhaps one of India’s most prominent transwomen. Born male as Gunraj Singh Dhaliwal in Patiala, Punjab, Dhaliwal did not identify herself as male right from the time she was a child, playing with dolls with her girlfriends. While her parents were kind and sympathetic, Dhaliwal suffered severe bullying at school. Faced with the trauma and frustration of being misunderstood, Dhaliwal ran away from home at 16, and this was a turning point in her life. With her parents promising her unstinting support, she decided to make the best of what life had to offer.

Dhaliwal later went on to pursue an engineering degree from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, and a stint with Infosys, never giving up up her dream of pursuing a career in the film industry, and gifting herself the body she was denied at birth. She completed a diploma in filmmaking from St Xavier’s, Mumbai, and post that assisted Govind Nihalani on an animation film. In 2007, at 25, she underwent a sex reassignment surgery. “I met people who had a sex change and realised it was difficult, but not impossible.” After her surgery, she was finally at peace and the gender she was meant to be.

Her first writing assigment was with Tanuja Chandra. Dhaliwal felt an instant connect with the filmmaker, and the two have been writing since. Dhaliwal then went on to pen the dialogues for films like Wazir and Lipstick Under My Burkha. She also wrote the screenplay and dialogues for Qarib Qarib Single. We spoke to her, soon after the success of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has been received positively by the audiences and critics alike. What is your takeaway from the film?