In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Smilee and Navya Singh opened up about their remarkable journeys, sharing insights into their lives, careers, and the special bond they share. The conversation emphasized the importance of representation, acknowledging both progress and challenges for the LGBTQ+ community. They also discussed the lack of support from some designers for Navya during her Miss Universe journey, highlighting the disparity between promises of inclusivity and actual support. Despite obstacles, both women exemplify resilience and the power of friendship. Their mutual admiration and shared experiences speak to the importance of visibility for marginalized communities in entertainment.
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FunTranscript
00:00Smiley, I think we both know that our fashion industry, all the big fashion designers are
00:12all from the LGBT community, especially from the gay community, they have become big designers.
00:18So I think there was a lot of change from the beginning, but there was no acceptance.
00:22Because a lot of designers are like this, if I share an incident, it feels very bad.
00:28I went for Miss Universe India, and when you go for such a beauty pageant, you need a good
00:34gown, you need someone who can prepare something for you, which you can show on national television
00:40or national platform, which will be seen all over the world.
00:45I have connected a few designers and they haven't responded to me.
00:50It feels bad, we are a part of the community, a lot of people in the community are privileged
00:56but do they only think about themselves?
00:59Is he doing it for the sake of visibility, running around, shaking hands and feet?
01:05He is not only doing it for himself, he is doing it for the entire community.
01:10So there is a big river, there are big crocodiles, but when it comes to help or support system,
01:21I am not seeing anyone coming out for us, especially for underprivileged people like us.
01:52But when the real thing is that this girl should get visibility and she is going on such a big platform
01:57to represent our state, nobody comes for the support.
02:22She is like a child, she is real.
02:24The way she teaches children, elders, people, she played the same role.
02:34She played the role of a teacher, a respectable teacher, a beautiful person.
02:39And the inclusiveness that Navya has talked about, she played that role so well because she is like that.
02:48So I was very proud of her.
02:49I would like to say one thing, both of us had made a manifest.
02:52She said in 2023, Navya, 2024 is yours and you are going to achieve a lot in 2024.
03:02I thought she was just saying that because both of us sisters get emotional very quickly.
03:06And we feel that we are ahead of everyone.
03:13Navya, 2024 is not going away from us, 2024 is ours.
03:18And I said, yes, it's ours, let's see what happens.
03:21And suddenly in 2024, something happened and we both like,
03:27she was in House of Lies and I was in Miss Universe India and Colors.
03:32And also I feel after, and when Miss Universe happened,
03:35you know, everything happened in such a hurry, it was Rakhi day.
03:40And Abhishek Bhatt, who is my Rakhi brother, he is Navya's very good friend.
03:48And he came home and I tied Rakhi to him.
03:52And he told me, I have to arrange for a gown, I have to do this, I have to do that.
03:55In fact, we were just seeing, I had so many new clothes.
04:01And I had not even seen them and I said, Navya, you would have taken this, you would have taken this.
04:06You know, opportunity works with the hair on her face.
04:10And Navya is one person, success is what?
04:14When preparation meets hard work.
04:17Okay, she's prepared, she works hard.
04:20So she recognizes the opportunity, even if her hair is on her face, she will catch it.
04:25But at that time, it is very important to be ready and I learned this from Navya.
04:30Today she was teaching me makeup inside that Smiley,
04:32Be ready at any time, you should know how to apply makeup.
04:36If I had met Navya at the time of Kalyug,
04:40maybe I would have been in this glamorous avatar today and maybe I would have signed some more films.
04:50To be very honest, today when a platform like Miss Universe India is made for us,
04:56I don't think it's tokenism.
04:59If they had to serve us like a token, why would they show us on the official page of Miss Universe?
05:04They just took our audition and showed that a trans woman has come and is giving an audition.
05:09We have given them visibility so far.
05:11But walking in the national beauty page in that platform,
05:18it totally shows you that it's not tokenism.
05:22And I'm glad to Nikhil Anand, the organizer of Miss Universe India,
05:26who has given us opportunity.
05:29Not only the opportunity, not only me.
05:31Being with me, there were more two beautiful trans women.
05:34One is Sheeni Suni and one is Namita Amarimuthu.
05:37Sheeni was representing Haryana and Namita was representing Tamil Nadu, Chennai.
05:42So I guess,
05:44it ends here that some people who believe in tokenism, no, it's not tokenism.
05:50And I think this is just the beginning.
05:51There is still a lot to see.
05:53I want to tell you a story that happened recently.
05:55I won't take names.
05:57But I was doing some work in which Navya was coming to support me.
06:02And the people there wanted to take bites of Navya, while I was doing that work for free.
06:10So I felt very bad that people are not giving me that closeness or inclusiveness to Navya.
06:19But because I am inviting Navya, they are using Navya.
06:24So I got very angry about this.
06:26So whether you call it tokenism or you call it, look, people are going to do a lot of things.
06:32Here people are not cowards.
06:35Everyone is an opportunist.
06:36And everyone sees their own benefit.
06:39So I just say that in this world and at this time,
06:44this kind of sisterhood and this kind of...
06:46I told Navya at that time that I am not doing this work.
06:50And Navya said, I am with you.
06:52Sister, you do whatever you want to do.
06:54I am with you.
06:55So I think in this situation, if there are such people,
07:01whether you call it tokenism or nepotism or whatever you want to call it,
07:06opportunists will be everywhere.
07:08But talent is like sun's rays.
07:11You can't stop it.
07:12For now, Navya has inspired me at this time that I should try to enter Miss Universe.
07:20So right now I am just working on my body.
07:23I believe a 75-year-old Korean lady.
07:26Yeah, yeah.
07:26I mean, I think Miss Universe India is such that there are no age criteria there.
07:31A married woman can also participate in Miss Universe India.
07:34A divorcee can also participate in Miss Universe India.
07:37Of course, yes, you have seen trans women have also participated.
07:41So I think age doesn't matter now.
07:44Height doesn't matter now.
07:46Body weight doesn't matter now.
07:49So it's a real inclusiveness.
07:52Real diversity has started.
07:54And anyone who identifies as a woman can participate.
07:59Also, I'm writing a book, my autobiography.
08:03So that is going on.
08:04I'm working on myself.
08:06You'll see my transformation journey.
08:08And you'll see a lot of things happening.
08:11I'm working with Navya also on both initial stage.
08:14But actually, let's get it's a big synopsis submitted to us.
08:19Let's get somebody or for us.
08:22We'll do it.