A few weeks before the landmark Supreme Court judgment scrapping the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, Ranjith Sankar made a brave Malayalam film titled Njan Marykutty (I am Marykutty), about a man with the soul of a woman, starring Jayasurya in the lead.

The film begins with a man, writing to his parents, and later, with his back to the camera, meeting doctors for a gender realignment surgery. Mathukutty gives up a lucrative corporate job in Chennai to return to his town as Marykutty, dressed in saris, with kohl-lined eyes, painted nails, bindi and lipstick. Her maleness is still visible in the broad back, muscled arms and short hair, but as she says to a sneering woman, “I am like you, only I cannot conceive.”

Her family disowns Marykutty—her sister (Malavika Menon)  being the most venomous—and she moves into the home of her friend Jovi (Jewel Mary) and her pre-teen daughter. The town looks upon her as a freak, and refer to her as “that creature.” Surprisingly, her biggest supporters are the priest (Innocent), who also runs the local FM radio station, and his assistant Alvin (Aju Varghese).

Marykutty’s dream is to join the police force, knowing that it will be an uphill task. Mundane problems like her IDs being in the old name and the delay in changing them, results in the rejection of her application.  A female bureaucrat is apathetic, saying, My biggest regret is that I'm not born a male...and then comes a character like you." To this, Marykutty retorts: "That's because you don't know the value of a woman."

When Marykutty needs to use the washroom in a government office, she looks up at the Ladies and Gents, and reluctantly goes into the one marked Disabled.

While she sets out to struggle against ignorance and prejudice, the priest invites her to host a show on the FM channel as RJ Angel. The show becomes very popular, as she gives sage advice to callers with problems, and sings in her clear—though not yet fully female—voice.

The violence comes from the town’s corrupt and evil cop, Kunjipaloo (Joju George), with whom Marykutty and Alvin have a run in when he tries to extort money from them. Marykutty uploads a video to the police site, which earns the cop a rap on the knuckles. Later, some men try to strip and molest Marykutty in the street when she has gone out for a meal with Jovi’s daughter, and Kunjipaloo gets his revenge. He strips a traumatized Marykutty and throws her into the lock-up.  He accuses her of being a prostitute and trying to sell the child to the men who attacked her. He gets even more vicious when he later catches Marykutty and Jovi in a car, and the friend, who was not driving, has had a beer.

Kunjipaloo’s viciousness is offset by the town’s collector Manoj (Suraaj Venarammoodu), who is so impressed by Marykutty’s dignity and determination, that he helps push some doors open. Her application is accepted; passing the written exam and physical test is up to her, and she succeeds, becoming Kerala’s first transgender sub-inspector. (The only character that hits a false note is a lawyer, who is helpful to Marykutty but also creepy.)

The film was reportedly inspired by the true story of K.Prithika Yashini who challenged the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board in court, but the film does not use the legal battle. (In Maharashtra a female cop Lolita Salve had to fight to retain her job after a sex-change surgery.)

Jayasurya’s performance as Marykutty is outstanding—understated and  nuanced, without once going into caricature mode.  There was some criticism that the film had a man playing Marykutty instead of a real transgender or transsexual person, quite like Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson being so viciously criticized for agreeing to play a transgender, that she quit the film. However, he and director Ranjith Sankar were also praised for their sensitivity in telling the story of Marykutty’s travails and questioning social taboos.

What the film conveys in the end, is, in the words of Marykutty, “This is neither the world of men, nor women, it is the world of talents.”