Ecology and Indian Transgender Cinema 2025 : Ecological Book Chapters for 'The Handbook of Indian Trans Cinema: Film, Television, and Web Series' Exploring Transgender Themes

Seeking chapters on the interface of ecology and Indian cinema that explores transgender topics for "The Handbook of Indian Trans Cinema: Film, Television, and Web Series." Proposals are due July 1, 2025.

We seek a nationally diverse group of contributors from countries around the world.

We especially welcome additional chapters on the following 17 themes, for which we already have over 50 confirmed chapters:

Theme 1. Transecology

Chapter 1. “Between Forest and Flesh: A Transecological Reading of Babli by Night,” Anee Bhattacharyya
Chapter 2. “Mesh-ed Identity: A Transecological Analysis of Santosh Sivan’s Navarasa,” Susan Deborah Selvaraj

Theme 2. Historical Cinema

Chapter 3. “Cinematic Representation of Eunuchs in Medieval Royal Courts,” Anup Shekhar Chakraborty and Praggnaparamita Biswas
Chapter 4. “Transgender Representation during the 1947 Partition in Hindi Cinema,” Nidhi Shrivastava
Chapter 5. “India’s First Film Heroine, Trans Cultural Traditions, and Films,” Manisha Prakash

Theme 3. Comedy

Chapter 6. “Comic Disruptions and Gender Play: Cross-Dressing, Laughter, and the Trans Possibility in Indian Cinema,” Darshana Chakrabarty
Chapter 7. “Between Satire and Selfhood: Trans Narratives in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Taali, and Paatal Lok,” Preeti Sharma
Chapter 8. “Agency and Cisnormative Laugh: Contextualizing Power, Subversion, and Inclusion in Sadak, Shabnam Mausi, and Pati, Patni aur Panga,” Saba Zahoor

Theme 4. Horror

Chapter 9. “Monstrous Femininity: Reading the Transgender Specter in Hindi Horror-Thrillers,” Abhiruchi Ranjan
Chapter 10. “Dressed to Kill: Transgression and Terror in Murder 2,” Akanksha Yadav and Shabham Pathak
Chapter 11. “Gothic Trans in Indian Cinema,” Ananya Chatterjee and Nisarga Bhattacharjee

Theme 5. Crime Drama

Chapter 12. “Transgender Narratives, Crime, and Televised Justice: A Critical Study of the Selected Episodes of Savdhaan India,” Rachana Pandey
Chapter 13. “(Trans)forming Noir: Kukoo's Paradoxical Role in Sacred Games,” Kulvinder Arora
Chapter 14. “The Politics of Casting in the Crime Drama Gangubai Kathiawadi,” Shruti Ghosh and B. R. Alamelu

Theme 6. Biopics

Chapter 15. “Transcending Boundaries: Embodied Agency and Narrative Disruption in the Odia Biopic T,” Debasish Mishra and Swati Shatavisha
Chapter 16. “Electing the Other: Reimagining the Political Hijra in Shabnam Mausi (2005),” Juhi Singh, Shubham Pathak, and Swasti Mishra
Chapter 17. “Queering the Narrative: Taali as a Site of Gender Disruption and Activism,” Sourav Das and Jaipal

Theme 7. Ethnographic Field Studies

Chapter 18. “Transgender Identity and Popular Cultural Representation: A Digital Ethnography of the the Web Series Taali and Its Reception,” Deepika
Chapter 19. “The Home as a Queer Space in the Lives of Trans Women,” Rincy Daniel and Sreejith Kadaiyakkol

Theme 8. Documentaries

Chapter 20. “The Indian Documentary Gaze: A Study of Trans Lives in Select Indian Documentaries,” Nazrana Haque and Nasmeem Farhin Akhtar
Chapter 21. “Visibilities In Transit: Studying Trans Mobilities and Intimacies via a Contemporary Indian Docu-Series,” Sukriti Bhukkal
Chapter 22. “Feminine Excesses: Camp Performativity in Documentaries as an Exploration of Trans Identity,” Sagnika Chanda
Chapter 23. “Crafting Exit Scapes: Reimagining Kashmiri Trans Identities in Trans Kashmir,” Saloni Walia and Varsha Singh
Chapter 24. “Navigating Transphobia: Exit Scapes and Self-Expression in South Indian Transgender Documentaries,” Nibu Thomson and Poorna Pushkala A
Chapter 25. “Wrong Body, Right Spirit: Visualizing Trans Athleticism in the Indian Sports Documentary I am Bonnie,” Bibhudatta Dash and Shreya Rathour

Theme 9. Myth

Chapter 26. “Desire on Screen in Bengali Cinema,” Nasmeem F. Akhtar
Chapter 27. “Desire, Devotion, and Trans Kinship in Bengali Cinema: Nagarkirtan (2019),” Sohini Datta and Himashree Patowary
Chapter 28. “Wrath and Redemption: Trans Embodiment and Vigilante Justice in Arddhanaari (2016),” Anurag Borah

Theme 10. Gender Performativity

Chapter 29. “Playing Trans: Gender Performativity and Masquerade in Hindi Cinema,” Gunjan Gupta and Nayana George
Chapter 30. “Dysphoria, Performativity, and the Politics of Belonging: Love, Intra-Community Exclusion, and Posthumous Solidarity in Kaushik Ganguly’s Nagarkirtan,” Debapriya Goswami
Chapter 31. “Whispers of Defiance: Queer Embodiment and Gender Nonconformity in Memories in March,” Manasi Sinha and Pratyush Bibhakar
Chapter 32. “Reconceptualizing ‘Nari Bhav’: Critiquing the Politics of Androgynous Semiotics, Perverse Mimesis, and Transcorporeal Signification in Kaushik Ganguly’s Arekti Premer Golpo and Raja Sen’s Maya Mridanga,” Amar Chakrabortty

Theme 11. Visibility

Chapter 33. “Negotiating Marginality: Trans Subjectivity, Queer Kinship, and the Politics of Visibility in Fireflies/Jonaki Porua,” Parvin Sultana
Chapter 34. “Trans Formations: The Transgender Gaze and Class Privilege in the Indian Web Series Made in Heaven,” Puja Raj
Chapter 35. “Between Spectacle and Subject: Trans Representations in Indian Television through Shakti: Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki,” Preeti Sharma

Theme 12. Motherhood

Chapter 36. “Questioning Normative Motherhood: The Representation of Trans Parenting in Bollywood,” Sushreed Routray and Rashmi Gaur
Chapter 37. “Maternal Agency and Trans Affirmation in Contemporary Indian Short Films,” Apoorva Uniyal and Monika Gupta

Theme 13. Transmasculinity

Chapter 38. “Transmasculinity and Malayalam Film: The Twin Effects of Transition and Demonetisation,” M.A. Miller
Chapter 39. “Unlovable or Unseen? Taboos around Trans Male Identity and Intimacy in the Film Safed,” Akanksha Singh and Rajiv Pratap Singh

Theme 14. Trans Foucault

Chapter 40. “The Trans Body in the Public Gaze: Michel Foucault’s Discourse Theory and Transgender Subjectivity in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui,” Vidya Hariharan
Chapter 41. “Gender, Space, and Survival: Daayraa and the Evolution of Trans Narratives in Indian Cinema,” Somsuvra Midya
Chapter 42. “Resisting Erasure: Transgender Agency, Intersectionality, and the Politics of Visibility in The Missing Colors and Atharyam,” Anupama A. P.

Theme 15. Time and Space

Chapter 43. “Mapping Trans Temporalities in Rajasthan's Cinematic Deserts,” Sohini Datta and Himashree Patowary
Chapter 44. “Safety as a Genre: Chronotopes of Trans Mobility in Indian Cinema,” Prerna Subramanian
Chapter 45. “Decolonizing Queer Spatiality in Manipuri Cinema: A Theoretical Analysis of Apaiba Leichil through Film and Queer Paradigms,” Kingshuk Banerjee and Rajni Singh

Theme 16. Bollywood

Chapter 46. “Bobby Darling’s Self-Representation: Navigating between Stereotype and Inclusivity in Bollywood,” Samrat Sharma and Arpita Sarker
Chapter 47. “Reimagining Trans Bodies in Bollywood Movies in the 21st Century,” Ali Saha

Theme 17. Regional Cinemas

Chapter 48. “Reframing Transness: Shame, Transgression, and Acceptance in Malayalam Trans Cinema,” Sony Jalarajan Raj and Adith K. Suresh
Chapter 49. “Trans Bodies in Malayalam Cinema: Class, Caste, and the Politics of Representation,” Anjitha Gopi
Chapter 50. “Trans-Feminist and Decolonial Interventions in Tamil Cinema,” Tanupriya
Chapter 51. “Exploring Parallel Lives and Silenced Truths in Bengali Cinema: Transgender Identity and Sexual Politics in Samantaral (2017),” Souradip Bhattacharyya
Chapter 52. “Abjection and the Transgender Gaze: Becoming Trans in Koti and Amhi Ka Tisare,” Amar Ramesh Wayal and Anupama A. P.
Chapter 53. “Changing the Portrayal of Transgender Protagonists in Indian Cinema,” Chandrakant Kamble

Interested authors should submit a 300-word abstract, a 200-word biography, and a sample of a previously published chapter or article to

https://bit.ly/IndianTransCinema

no later than July 1, 2025.

Each chapter will provide extensive references to both trans theory and film theory. Abstracts for proposed chapters should include several references to both trans theory and film theory, with an explanation for how these references will support your argument. Your list of references does not count toward the 300 word limit for abstracts.

Proposals that do not integrate references to film theory and trans theory in a compelling manner will be rejected.

Proposals should focus on films with a specifically trans focus, not merely a broadly LGBTQ focus.

If your chapter will have more than one author, please send a 200-word biography for each author. Proposals submitted by email will not be accepted. Abstracts and biographies should be submitted as Word documents, and previously published chapters or articles should be submitted as PDFs. Both Word files and PDFs should contain the author’s name in the file names. Please include your email address in your biography file so we can contact you with our decision about your proposal.

Authors will be notified whether their proposals are accepted by July 20, 2025. Partial first drafts are due by September 1, 2025; solid first drafts of full chapters are due by December 1, 2025, and final versions that cross-reference other chapters extensively are due March 1, 2026. All chapters must include at least one author with a PhD. In your 200-word biography, please note the year and university where you earned your doctorate. Only previously unpublished works will be considered.

We are seeking chapters that cover the full breadth of India's trans films, so we are not accepting proposals that explore films already examined by confirmed chapters. Please do NOT propose chapters on any of the following films, which are already covered in the handbook:

Aalorukkam
Abnormal
Admitted
Amhi Ka Tisare
Antharam
Apaiba Leichil
Arddhanaari
Ardh
Ardhanaari
Arekti Premer Golpo
Atharyam
Avalilekkulla Dhooram
Babli by Night
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Chachi 420
Chalte Chalte
Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
Chanthupottu
Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish
Daayraa
Darmiyaan
Dream Girl
Dream Girl 2
Fireflies (Jonaki Porua)
Gangubai Kathiawadi
Gender Identity
Haddi
I am Bonnie
I am Joyita
India’s Biggest Transgender Festival
In Transit
Iratta Jeevitham
Jeevan Smriti
Jodhaa-Akbar
Jogwa
Kaalakaandi
Kanchana
Khejdi
Koti
Laxmii
Made in Heaven
Maine Dil Tajhko Diya
Maya Mridanga
Memories in March
The Missing Colors
Murder 2
Naanu Avanalla…Avalu
Nagarkirtan
Navarasa
Nilayile Vellaramkallukal
Njan Marykutty
Paatal Lok
Paava Kadhaigal
Padmavat
Page 3
Pati, Patni aur Panga
Performing the Goddess
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost
Rajni
Sacred Games
Sadak
Safed
Samantaral
Sangharsh
Savdhaan India
Shabnam Mausi
Shakti: Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
Super Deluxe
T
Taali
Tamanna
That’s My Boy
Trans Kashmir
Transcender
Udalazham
Unwoman

Proposals for chapters on any of the above films will be rejected.

You are welcome to submit more than one abstract. If you submit multiple abstracts for different chapters, please add a note at the top of each abstract to indicate whether you wish to be considered for writing only a single chapter, or whether you wish to be considered for writing more than one chapter.

The first editor's previous books include "Transgender India: Understanding Third Gender Identities and Experiences" (2022), "Indian Feminist Ecocriticism" (2022), "The Routledge Handbook of Trans Literature" (2024), and "Transecology: Transgender Perspectives on Environment and Nature" (2021).