Living as a transgender in Pakistan appears to be a severely difficult thing to do, what with all the physical, psychological abuse along with social stigmatization a transgender person goes through. Harassment of a transgender person is broadcast on social media as a medal of honor. And we take pride in beating them up, scaring them away or just taunting them for their existence, if nothing else.
Seeing how hard it is for the community, Soch band decided to speak up about the treatment of transgender people in their own unique way
The band has famously always been keenly aware of the societal problems prevalent in Pakistan. Some of their most famous songs include Uth Jawana and Awari. The latter even made it to the Indian film ‘Ek Villain‘ and was sung by none other than our favorite Momina Mustehsan.
In their latest offering, Dhola, the band offers an insight into the life of a transgender prostitute.
While talking to MangoBaaz about the choice of subject for their song, one that appears to be about love, Adnan Dhool, the lead vocalist of Soch said, “the idea to show a transgender prostitute was because, unfortunately, as a transgender person in Pakistan, one doesn’t have many avenues of earning a respectable living. More often than not, such a person is pushed into selling off their bodies to put food in their mouth. But, inside, you’re still a person who craves love and intimacy like anyone else. So our song focuses on how a transgender prostitute builds this world of love for themselves.”
The lead actress of the song, Rimal Ali, is a transgender model and actress who’s become the first transgender woman to star in a mainstream Pakistani band’s music video
Rimal’s a transgender woman who has suffered stigmatization at the hands of people around her, in her own way. She, however, has channeled all her hardship into a modelling and acting career, leveraging her good fortune to be able to do so.
The song depicts how a prostitute dons roles depending on how her clients want to see her
She becomes a dominatrix for someone
Or a nerdy schoolgirl for others
While some even want to see her as a dulhan
But at the end of the day, all that love is just a construct because it’s nothing but a transaction
Let’s just at least vow to be more compassionate and empathetic toward everyone, especially those who are unreasonably discriminated against. Because, everyone just wants to love and be loved.