Sushmita Sen has started shooting for her next project. The former Miss Universe, who made her smashing showbiz comeback with the highly-acclaimed Disney+Hotstar show, Aarya, is next doing a Voot Select series. As we revealed in July, Sushmita plays a strong-willed woman in this yet-untitled project, directed by Marathi filmmaker Ravi Jadhav. As the show has gone into production in Pune, we have got further details of the project, and the most exciting part is that Sushmita plays the role of a transgender in this series.

Industry sources have revealed that Sushmita Sen’s Voot Select series is based on the life of popular transgender activist, Gauri Sawant. The six-episode show narrates Gauri’s varied aspects of life, her journey, challenges, and the hurdles she faced to become India’s first transgender mother. "The show is an inspirational tale of Gauri Sawant’s rise from the community. Sushmita loved this character of Gauri, who is a courageous, warm-hearted, strong-willed woman fighting against all odds for the transgender community of India. The actress wanted to come above the character of Aarya Sareen, who’s a glamorous, independent woman thrown in to join a mafia gang to avenge her husband’s murder, and this web show dropped into her lap at the correct time when she was looking for a project that challenged her as an actor. Gauri Sawant’s story is not an ordinary story of a trans woman; it also beautifully encapsulates the precious mother-daughter relationship between Gauri and her adopted child, Gayatri," an industry source told us.

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Gauri Sawant is India’s first transgender mother and a social activist, working hard for society to accept and respect them for who they are. She was the petitioner of the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) judgment that was passed in 2013 recognizing transgenders as the third sex and was also the first transgender person to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India for the marriage and adoption rights of transgender people. Sushmita Sen’s Voot Select series, written by Kshitij Patwardhan, chronicles every aspect of Gauri’s life—from her struggle to get accepted and her social work, to her being known as' nani’ and her motherhood journey that began with the adoption of four-year old Gayatri, who was left orphaned after the death of her biological mother. For those unaware, Gauri's journey has already been featured in a Vicks ad, which has so far been viewed over 11 million times.

Sushmita Sen is expected to finish this Voot Select series by the end of November, and will then head to the third season of Ram Madhvani’s Aarya early next year. The actress is also committed to an intense and power-packed biopic film, produced by Mansi Bagla of Mini Films and ace photographer Subi Samuel’s Bungalow No. 84. The Voot Select show is produced by Arjun Singgh Baron and Kartik D. Nishandar under their Mumbai-based studio, Global Sports Entertainment And Media Solutions (GSEAMS).