Shoaib Mansoor’s woman anthem ‘Dua e Reem’ is worth applauding for more than one reason. One, it is a woman-centric song that is dedicated to all women. Two, it features transgenders who have never been part of a mainstream project as big and influential as this.

The women surrounding Mahira Khan in the darbar are mostly transgender, and this is the first time ever that several trans women were seen together supporting the lead in a music video.

To name a few, Jannat Ali, Naghma Jee, Sania Abbasi, Sonia Naz are the ones lip-syncing to the voices of Damiah Farooq, Shehnaz and Mehak Ali. Jannat is a trans activist who came forward to share her experience of working in the music video. She said:

For trans-women to be working alongside a top-director like Shoaib Mansoor, that too for a mainstream project is a big, big achievement. It will help to break the fixed mindset people in the society have (about transgendered people) as it presents us in a beautiful manner like never before — as actual women.

This is something phenomenal because Shoaib Mansoor has proven that he just doesn’t limit his social activism to movies (his directorial Bol highlighted the plight of a transgender) but is actually part of the change that he has been endorsing for years.

The recognition of trans as the third gender and equally deserving of mainstream jobs is what Shoaib Mansoor has hinted at in Dua e Reem. Hats off to such brilliant efforts!