Alina Khan (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Joyland'' in 2022. She is the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

person to have a lead role in a major Pakistani film. In May 2023, she was crowned Miss Trans Pakistan 2023 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Early life and career

Khan was born into a Muslim family in

. She has described facing societal

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

due to being

, and how after being contacted by an NGO in Pakistan, she auditioned and won a lead role in the film ''Darling'', which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

and had global distribution rights sold to

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

. According to Aiman Rizvi, writing for ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'' about ''Darling'', "The crux of the story is perhaps best encapsulated in the words of the lead actress, Alina Khan, a trans woman who describes her personal struggle in the industry, "I've always wanted to act in movies, since I was a child. But then I'd ask myself, how are they going to cast me? As a man, or a woman?"" Khan has also appeared in the short film ''Happy Marriage'', as well as commercials, a music video by

Ali Sethi Ali Aziz Sethi (Urdu/; ; born July 2, 1984) is a Pakistani singer, songwriter, composer, and author. Sethi rose to prominence with his debut novel, '' The Wish Maker'' (2009). In 2012, Sethi began focusing on his musical career and made his film ...

, and on the television show ''Good Morning Zindgi''. In 2018, she performed as a dancer at the Naaz Theatre in Lahore.

''Joyland''

Khan made her debut at the

75th Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

in the role of Biba in '' Joyland'', the first Pakistani feature film screened at Cannes, and "the first major Pakistani motion picture to feature a trans actor in a lead role", according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Khan, the director, and other cast members were present during the Cannes screening where they received a

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

that lasted almost ten minutes. Siddhant Adlakha writes in a review for ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' that in the film, Khan "has an immediately commanding presence — when she walks into a room, she makes it hers" and "as Biba grows closer to Haider, inadvertently threatening what little footing he has left as a man in society's eyes, a deep vulnerability begins to emerge, which Khan wields with precision." In November 2022, after the film was approved to be shown, the Pakistan Ministry of Information & Broadcasting banned ''Joyland'' from national distribution, in response to complaints about its subject matter, including from the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...

party. In response to the ban, Khan told ''

'', "I've been very sad. There's nothing against Islam and I don't understand how Islam can get endangered by mere films." The ban was reversed on November 16, clearing the way for domestic screenings of the film.

Miss Trans Pakistan

On 31 May 2023, Khan was crowned Miss Trans Pakistan 2023 in a ceremony held in

, Pakistan. Khan commented to the media, "The feeling of being crowned in front of my Trans community is a very great feeling because it gives us a voice through this platform to represent ourselves."

Sonia Ahmed Sonia Ahmed (Urdu: سونیا احمد) (born 23 August 1980) as Sonia Iqbal Ahmed, is a Kuwait-born Canadian Pakistani and founder of Miss Canada Pakistan Inc., now known as Miss Pakistan World, Mr. Pakistan World and Mrs. Pakistan World that ...

began the Miss Trans Pakistan pageant in 2021 where Shyraa Roy got the title previously; it is the first pageant for trans women in Pakistan with an opportunity for the winner to represent Pakistan at international pageants.

Filmography

References

External links

Alina Khan
on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Alina 1998 births Living people Actresses from Lahore Pakistani transgender actresses LGBT beauty pageant winners 21st-century Pakistani LGBT people 21st-century Pakistani actresses Date of birth missing (living people) Pakistani beauty pageant winners